Bhubaneswar: Koraput saw a sharp drop of almost 8°C from normal to record the coldest December night in seven years at 4.8°C, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Friday.
The southern Odisha town had last recorded 4.8°C on December 31, 2018. However, the mercury in the town had dropped to 3°C on December 27, 1969, 3.9°C on December 29, 1961, 4.2°C on December 1, 1970, 4.4°C on December 19, 1977, and 4.6°C on December 20, also in 1977. It had recorded 4.8°C also on December 2, 1970, senior meteorologist Umasankar Das posted on X.
In the last 24 hours, Semiliguda in Koraput was the second coldest place in the state at 6.3°C, followed by Daringbadi in Kandhamal at 6.5°C, Jharsuguda at 7.2°C, Phulbani and G Udayagiri, also in Kandhamal, at 7.5°C and 7.8°C, respectively. The other places where mercury plummeted below 10°C include Rourkela (8°C), Kirei in Sundargarh (8.3°C), Nabarangpur (8.5°C), Sundargarh (9°C) and Bhawanipatna (9.8°C).
Dense fog also engulfed Nayagarh, Phulbani, Koraput and Bhawanipatna.
The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack also saw a slight increase in the minimum temperature, recording 14.6°C and 12.8°C, respectively compared to 15°C and 13.6°C the previous day.
Dense fog on Thursday had severely disrupted air, rail, and road traffic across Odisha, particularly affecting the capital city of Bhubaneswar. The poor visibility caused significant delays in flights as Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) remained non-functional for two hours in the morning. Multiple trains were significantly delayed with Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express, departing Puri station at 10:17 am instead of 5 am. Similarly, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express reached New Delhi nine hours and 14 minutes late. Other trains, such as the Anand Vihar Terminal-Puri Neelachal Express, were delayed by over 12 hours.
East Coast Railway attributed the delays to heavy fog at key sections like Talcher-Hindol-Budhapank and Puri, which forced trains to operate at restricted speeds for safety.
Even as fog warning continues for several parts of the state, the IMD has forecast a gradual rise in the night temperature by 2-3°C after 4 days.
