Heavy Rain To Lash Odisha For 3 More Days; Yellow Alert For 18 Districts Today

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is likely to experience heavy rain for another 3 days under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal and active southwest monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.

“The low-pressure over Northwest and adjoining Westcentral Bay of Bengal off south Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh coasts has become less marked. However, the associated cyclonic circulation now lies over south interior Odisha and neighbourhood. The Monsoon Trough now passes through Bikaner, Guna, Mandla, Raipur, Kalingapattanam and thence southeastwards to Westcentral Bay of Bengal.”

According to the midday bulletin, heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) may occur at isolated places in Malakangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Balangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Angul, Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts till 8.30 am on Thursday.

Yellow warning of heavy rain has also been issued for isolated places in Bargarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Jajpur during the subsequent 24 hours (September 7). Heavy rainfall will continue at isolated places in Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj on September 8, it said.

IMD’s regional centre’s director HR Biswas told the media that parts of Odisha will most likely witness light to moderate rainfall till September 10, while heavy rainfall may also occur in certain districts till September 9.

Notably, 13 places in the state recorded heavy rainfall under the influence of a fresh low pressure in the past 24 hours with Balasore receiving the highest of 117.1 mm.  Between September 1 and September 6, the average rainfall recorded was 66.2 mm, which is 11 per cent more than the normal of 59.4 mm. However, there is a shortfall in 11 districts while the rest 19 are in the normal category with Odisha having received 849.5 mm rainfall against its normal value of 973.9 mm till September 6 this monsoon season.