Fog engulfs Bihar, no respite in sight for 3 days

PATNA: Dense fog engulfed Patna and most other parts of the state for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, leading to a sharp plunge in day temperature.
Weathermen have ruled out any respite from the biting cold conditions over the next few days. Patna Meteorological Centre has issued a yellow alert for dense fog in the state over the next four days along with further drop in minimum temperature from Thursday.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) also stated in its evening bulletin that dense fog cover is very likely at isolated places in Bihar over the next five days.
Ashish Kumar Singh, a meteorologist at Patna Meteorological Centre told TOI that a thick layer of fog has covered most parts of Indo-Gangetic plains, including Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, some parts of Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. "The fog cover is expected to persist for three more days. Rise in speed of westerly winds along with a western disturbance is likely to lead to dispersal of fog cover from the fourth day," he said.
"Dense fog was witnessed at Sabour and Forbesganj and light to moderate fog at Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Chhapra and Dehri-on-Sone on Tuesday. Dense fog cover is expected to prevail across the state over the next three days owing to low wind speed and high moisture level," said Rajesh Kumar, an official at Patna Meteorological Centre.
Residents are having a tough time braving the cold foggy weather as sun has not come out of the fog cover from at least last three days, leading to a sharp plunge in maximum temperature. The maximum temperature plunged further at Patna on Tuesday and stood at 14.5 degrees C, seven notches lower than normal for the day.
Pusa in Samastipur and Harnaut in Nalanda were the coldest places on Tuesday with a maximum temperature of 14.2 degrees C. The maximum temperature at Gaya, on the other hand, was recorded at 14.4 degrees C.
"The maximum temperature remained four to five notches lower than normal in southern parts of the state and average maximum temperature remained in the range of 16-18 degrees C," Kumar said.
The average minimum temperature, on the other hand, remained in the range of 10-12 degrees C. At 8 degrees C, Ziradei in Siwan was the coldest place in the state on Tuesday.
"The average maximum temperature in the state is likely to be in the range of 18-20 degrees C and minimum in the range of 10-12 degrees C over the next two days. Thereafter, the minimum temperature is likely to fall by two to four notches. The maximum temperature, on the other hand, is expected to remain four to five notches below normal along with fog cover throughout the day. People should protect themselves from severe cold," Kumar added.