Nights are going to get colder in the next three days with the weather office warning of plummeting night readings with most parts of the state recording sub-10 temperatures.

On Wednesday, IMD's Ranchi Meteoroligical Centre said it expected minimum readings to fall by 3-5 degree Celsius during the next 72 hours. The weather office predicted fog and mist in most parts of the state.

"The sub-10 chill will come back in most districts of Jharkhand due to restoration of north-westerly winds. For the last two days, easterly winds were prevailing over Jharkhand resulting in a rise in minimum readings in most parts of the state," said a duty officer at the Ranchi Met Centre, adding that dry weather and mainly clear sky will result in a drop in night readings.

Due to dominating easterly winds the minimum reading in Ranchi was 14.6 degree Celsius, five notches above normal, on Wednesday. The local IMD observatory in Jamshedpur recorded a minimum temperature of 15 degree Celsius, four notches above normal.

Palamau headquarters Daltonganj recorded a minimum temperature of 14 degree Celsius, five points above normal. Bokaro, which had recorded the season's lowest of 6 degree Celsius a couple of days ago, notched 13.1 degrees _ two notches above normal _ on Wednesday.

Chaibasa in West Singhbhum, Pakur, Dumka and several other districts recorded over 13 degree Celsius on Wednesday. Met data revealed that minimum readings in Giridih, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Deoghar, Koderma, Simdega, Jamtara also witnessed an abrupt rise during the past 48 hours.