Bhubaneswar: With a cold wave sweeping Odisha, mercury levels plummeted sharply across the state with the capital city recording 14.1°C, 5.3 notches below normal, India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Thursday.
This is the lowest temperature recorded in Bhubaneswar this season so far. The mercury had dipped to 14.8°C in the city on November 10.
Interestingly, Bhubaneswar had recorded its all-time lowest minimum temperature this month at 9.7°C on November 30, 1970, followed by 10.9°C on November 26, 1968.
The neighbouring Cuttack recorded 14.6°C, 4.1°C below normal, in the last 24 hours.
The night temperature dropped below 8°C in the hill stations of Kandhamal and Koraput. Semiliguda was the coldest in the state at 7.1°C, followed by Daringbadi at 7.5°C and G Udayagiri at 7.6°C. Jharsuguda at 10.9°C saw a sharp fall of 6.2°C compared to normal, while Angul at 12°C recorded the second major 5.8°C drop from normal.
The other places which recorded temperature below 15°C are Phulbani in Kandhamal (8.5°C ), Rourkela (11.1°C ), Chipilima in Bargarh (11.2°C ), Kirei in Sundargarh and Bhawanipatna at 11.5°C each, Sundargarh (12.6°C ), Keonjhar (12.8), Dhenkanal (13.1°C), Balangir (13.3°C ), Koraput (13.5°C ), Sonepur (13.6°C), Sambalpur (14°C), Mahisapat in Dhenkanal (14.4°C) and Hirakud (14.5°C).
The IMD further informed that dense fog engulfed Rourkela, reducing visibility to 200 metres. Moderate fog also occurred in Bhawanipatna.
The night temperature is unlikely to witness any large change during the next three days, but rise thereafter by 3-4°C across the state, it added.