Residents caught in the shower in Patna City on Saturday. Picture by Sachin

Patna, Jan. 18: City residents experienced a rerun of last Saturday’s weather condition today — rain coupled with chill. The only relief was that the wind speed did not exceed 10kmph.

People had to cancel their weekend outing plans owing to the damp weather. “Rain in winter is the most uncomfortable condition. It was cold through the day. I had planned to go shopping with my sisters at Patna Market but I had to cancel it,” said Kadamkuan resident Anjali Singh.

Though it rained throughout the day, no wind-chill conditions were observed, as the wind speed was not high. The showers occurred in an intermittent manner almost throughout the day, throwing normal life out of gear. Commuting on the slippery roads in Patna today was a struggle owing to accumulated water.

Weathermen claimed the rain was expected to stop by tonight and the cloud cover to clear by tomorrow afternoon. The rain gauge at Anisabad Met centre measured 5.4mm rainfall in Patna till 5.30pm.

The local Met office claimed that except for districts in east Bihar, precipitation was observed across the state. India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s headquarters at Delhi, in its evening bulletin today, stated that dense fog covered isolated places in Bihar and visibility was less than 50m till 8.30am in Bhagalpur. It also forecast rainfall at isolated places in the state tomorrow.

Weathermen attributed the rain to the western disturbance from Uttarakhand, which led to heavy snowfall in Shimla today. “Initially, we forecast clouds at most places in Bihar and rain in the western parts of the state today. However, the western disturbance turned out to be stronger than what we expected, leading to rainfall across the state except the eastern parts,” said Ashish Sen, director, IMD, Patna.

The rain, however, did not affect flight operations from the airport.

According to the Met department, the rain was a one-day show. “The showers are expected to stop by tonight and the cloud cover is expected to clear by tomorrow afternoon. The clouds, however, would keep the minimum temperature low, around 10°C, till Tuesday. The maximum temperature during the day is expected to be around 20°C till then,” Sen said.

The retreat of the cloud cover is expected to cause fog in the morning hours tomorrow and on Monday. The IMD headquarters has forecast dense fog (visibility less than 200m) at isolated places across Bihar till Monday. Weathermen have ruled out the possibility of cold wave conditions in the state over the next few days. A cold wave is declared only when the minimum temperature drops 5°C or more below normal in winter for more than two days.