Blame snowfall in the north for the return of the morning shiver.
Icy north-westerly winds are sweeping across Jharkhand, dragging down minimum temperatures below the 10�C mark at many places, including Ranchi and Bokaro, and promising another 48 hours of bone-numbing chill.
Weathermen on Tuesday predicted a drop of at least two degrees in the next two days.
Besides the capital and the eastern steel city, places like Koderma and Daltonganj faced the jitters of sub-10 chill, some of them for the second day in a row.
Ranchi recorded a minimum reading of 8.4�C, three degrees below the average normal. On Monday, it was cosier at 11�C, which means the temperature plunged more than three degrees in just 24 hours. Kanke, which is on the outskirts of the capital and had touched the freezing point in December, was colder at 6.2�C.
In Daltonganj, the Celsius has been on a plummeting spree. The local observatory on Tuesday recorded a minimum of 6.8�C against Monday's 7.5�C. The reading was five notches below the average normal.
The night temperature in Bokaro nosedived to 8.9�C from 11.1�C. The other steel city, Jamshedpur, also witnessed a Celsius slide to 11.7�C from Monday's 13.9�C.
Places like Chaibasa, Ghatshila and Seraikela recorded minimum temperatures between 11�C and 12�C. On Monday, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan had been warmer at around 14�C.
Early morning fog and evening mist were witnessed at several places, including Jamshedpur.
"Heavy snowfall in Shimla, Jammu, Leh, Gulmarg and other places in northern India has given fresh momentum to the numbing north wind. This is causing the Celsius slide in Jharkhand. Such weather is likely to prevail for a few days," said A.K. Sen, the director of Patna Meteorological Office.
According to the senior weatherman, the north-westerly current, which had become weak due to the impact of a western disturbance, gained pace from January 20. An evening inference issued by Patna confirmed that this dry north-westerly would prevail over the state for 48 hours.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Calcutta said two weather systems ' an upper air cyclonic circulation over Arunachal Pradesh and a low-pressure trough over south-east Bay of Bengal ' might result in cloud formation in some pockets of Jharkhand in the next 24 hours.
"But, we don't see any possibility of rain. The nights will be colder," warned the officer on duty.
