At 9.6 degrees Celsisus, Patna records season’s lowest temperature

PATNA: Minimum temperature in Patna dropped below 10 degrees Celsius for the first time this winter as it was recorded at 9.6 degrees C on Saturday, two notches below normal. Gaya, on the other hand, was the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of 7.2 degrees C, three notches below normal.
In its weather bulletin issued on Saturday, Patna Meteorological Centre stated that fog or mist would prevail in the city in the early morning hours over the next few days.
According to the weather bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), states like Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand would witness shallow to moderate fog and dense fog at isolated places on December 13.
Weathermen have attributed the plunge in mercury to cold northwesterly winds blowing from north India, which witness frequent snowfall at this time of the year.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted comparatively warmer winter this time. An IMD bulletin issued on December 3 had forecast above normal minimum temperature across the country between December and February. According to the forecast, below normal cold wave conditions are likely over core cold wave zone in the country.
Core cold wave zone covers states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana.
According to the forecast, assessment suggests only about 39% probability of above normal minimum temperature in the core cold wave zone between November and January.
The IMD has attributed warmer winter conditions to above average equatorial sea surface temperatures across the Pacific Ocean.