Bhubaneswar: Soaked in Raja festivities, which heralds the coming of the rains, Odisha is eagerly waiting for monsoon showers to pull down the temperature and bring relief from sultry weather conditions.
“Conditions are also favourable for further advance of monsoon into some more parts of north Arabian sea, some more parts of Gujarat state, some parts of south Madhya Pradesh, entire Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, some parts Vidarbha and Telangana, some more parts of Andhra Pradesh, westcentral & northwest Bay of Bengal, some parts of Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, entire Sub Himalayan West Bengal and some more parts of Bihar during subsequent 2-3 days,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Tuesday.
The overall rainfall activity is likely to increase gradually over Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal with fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning/gusty winds during the next five days, it added.
The MeT office has further predicted a dip in the mercury level after 24 hours with the maximum temperature gradually falling by 3 to 4 degree Celsius in the subsequent four days,
Notably, Sambalpur was hottest at 40.7 degree Celsius at 11. 30 am followed by Jharsuguda and Hirakud at 40.4 degree Celsius each. Bhubaneswar recorded 36.6 degree Celsius while Puri, where Snana Purnima of Lord Jagannath and siblings are being conducted, saw a maximum temperature of 33.6 degree Celsius.
Meanwhile, Odisha is likely to experience light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning till 8.30 am on June 19. While the IMD has forecast rain or thundershower at a few places in the state during the next 24 hours, yellow warning for thunderstorm with lightning has been issued for one or two places in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada and Cuttack.
Forecast for next 4 days: