Bhubaneswar: Odisha is experiencing the onset of winter chill with night temperature falling sharply across much of the state, with several interior and southern districts recording notably low minimums, according to the latest India Meteorological Department observations.
Semiliguda in Koraput district was the coldest on Tuesday evening at 11.6°C, followed by G Udayagiri at 12.4°C and the hill station of Daringbadi at 14°C. Jharsuguda and Phulbani both touched 14.5°C, while Bhawanipatna recorded 14.6°C, Nabarangpur 15°C and Rourkela around 15.6°C to 15.7°C.
The night temperature dipped below the 15°C mark at six places.
The mercury also slipped below normal levels, dropping by about 2°C to 3°C at a few places over the north interior districts in the preceding 24 hours and remained 3°C to 4°C below average at isolated spots there, with smaller deficits of around 2°C noted in parts of the interior and coastal belts.
In Jharsuguda, the minimum temperature was roughly 3.4°C to 3.5°C below normal, while coastal stations such as Cuttack logged 17.4°C (about 2.2°C below normal) and Bhubaneswar 18.5°C (around 2.1°C below normal). A striking local contrast appeared within Koraput district itself, where the town recorded a relatively mild 20°C (more than 5°C above normal) while nearby Semiliguda, only about 20-22 km away, was nearly 8.4°C cooler.
Director of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty attributed the fall in night temperatures to northerly winds flowing toward the state and indicated that minimum temperatures are expected to show no large change across Odisha over the next seven days.
Fog also affected parts of the state on Tuesday morning, with dense fog reported in Rourkela and shallow fog in Phulbani.
Meanwhile, the IMD is monitoring a developing weather system, with a low-pressure area likely to form over the southwest or southeast Bay of Bengal around Friday. The system is expected to move northwestwards and become well-marked within the following 24 hours. Current forecasts suggest it is unlikely to produce major impacts over Odisha itself, with dry weather and the prevailing cool night-time trend expected to continue for several days.