Bhubaneswar: Dense fog may continue to prevail in seven districts of Odisha during early morning hours till December 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Wednesday.
The weather agency has issued a warning for Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Sonepur and Kandhamal districts till December 25 morning. Dense fog may occur during early hours at isolated pockets in districts of Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Sonepur and Kandhamal during the subsequent 72 hours.
Similar warning has been issued for Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Sonepur and Kandhamal on December 29 morning.
Shallow to moderate fog is also likely during early morning hours at isolated pockets in the districts of Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Dhenkan
al, Sundargarh, Sonepur, Kandhamal, Angul, Koraput, Kalahandi, Bhadrak, Boudh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur during this period.
In the last 24 hours, very dense fog blanketed Rourkela, reducing visibility to 50 metres. Dense fog also occurred in Sambalpur, Hirakud, Dhenkanal, Sonepur, Phulbani and Jharsuguda and moderate fog in Koraput and Bhawanipatna.
Bhubaneswar saw a slight rise in mercury levels, recording 13.4°C this morning. The state capital had seen a drop of 3.2°C in the minimum temperature from 15.1°C on December 21, 13.6°C on December 22 to 11.9°C on December 23. Cuttack recorded 13.6°C compared to 12.4°C the previous day.
Koraput continued to be the coldest place in the state at 6.1°C, followed by Similiguda in Koraput district (6.6°C, Jharsuguda (6.8°C), Daringbadi and G Udayagiri in Kandhamal at 7.5°C and 8.7°C respectively, Nabarangpur (8.9°C), Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhamal, (9°C), Kirei in Sundargarh district (9.3°C, Boudh (9.7°C) and Chiplima in Sambalpur district (9.9°C).
The IMD has forecast no large change in the minimum temperature during the next seven days.