PATNA: The cold northwesterly wind from the snow-clad mountains of Himalayas is reaching up to Bihar, resulting in plunge in the minimum departed temperature of several cities in the state, including Patna.
The minimum temperature in Patna was 10.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the lowest this season so far. However, Gaya was the coldest with the minimum temperature at 8.8 degrees Celsius, which were five notches lower than the respective normal for the day. The maximum temperature in Patna was recorded at 23.4 degree Celsius, which was also five notches lower than normal.
Patna Meteorological Centre said the minimum temperature in South Bihar districts has rapidly declined in the past 24 hours due to the western disturbances which now lies in Jammu and Kashmir. The western disturbances are seen as a trough between 3.1 and 3.6km above the mean sea level.
Zeeshan Ansari at Patna MeT centre said, “The sky would remain clear and the northwesterly wind may blow with of 10-15km per hour. Dry weather will prevail over the state. The moisture level in the air was recorded between 40 and 80. Due to decrease in moisture level, people are experiencing the chill in the wind.”
The windy conditions had the positive impact on the overall air quality index (AQI) of Patna, which improved in moderate category from 186 to 166 in the last 24 hours.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) daily bulletin, the overall AQI of 166 for Patna was the average of AQI level of six air monitoring stations at BIT-Mesra, Patna (143), Eco Park (138), SK Memorial Hall (151), DRM office, Khagaul (81), Planetarium (235) and Patna City (201). The CPCB stipulates that ‘moderate’ AQI can lead to breathing discomfort in people with lungs, asthma or heart diseases.