Nor’wester Plunges Mercury In Odisha; Heavy Rain May Soak 5 Districts Till Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: Nor’wester rains continued to lash different parts of coastal Odisha on Wednesday morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued orange warning of one or two spells of intense rain for some parts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Puri, Boudh, Angul, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar till 11.15 am. There was also a yellow warning of thunderstorm with lightning and light to moderate rain for some parts of Nuapada, Bargarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Kalahandi.

The interaction of middle tropospheric westerly trough with lower level moisture-laden winds from Bay of Bengal has created favourable meteorological condition for thundershower activities in the state and it is expected to continue for another 24 hours.

The weather agency has predicted heavy rainfall in five districts of Odisha – Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Nayagarh – during next 24 hours. Orange warning of thunderstorm with lightning and gusty wind speeds of 30-40 kmph has also been issued for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Nayagarh and Puri districts.

Similarly, yellow warning regarding thunderstorm and lightning has been issued for Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts.

The Met Office has advised people to keep watch on the weather and take shelter during the thunderstorms to protect themselves from lightning and follow traffic advisories in urban areas. It advised the farmers to protect the mature Rabi crops.

In the last 24 hours, the highest rainfall of 72.2 mm was recorded at Gondia in Dhenkanal, followed by Bhuban also in Dhenkanal at 72 mm, Athamalik at Angul at 68 and Kantamal in Boudh at 66.2 mm. The summer thundershower and heavy rainfall for the second day in a row also brought down the day temperature by several notches with 28 stations recording temperatures below 30 degree Celsius.

Mahisapat in Dhenkanal recorded the lowest maximum temperature of 22.7 degree Celsius, followed by Daringbadi in Kandhamal at 23.5 degree Celsius, Semiliguda in Koraput at 23.6 degree Celsius, Dhenkanal town at 23.8 degree Celsius, Ranital in Bhardrak at 24.5 degree Celsius and Phulbani also in Kandhamal at 24.6 degree Celsius.

The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack recorded 29.4 and 25.5 degree Celsius, respectively, which was 3.7 and 7.2 below normal.

The day temperature is likely to rise again by 2 to 6 degree Celsius from March 21 onwards, Met scientist Umasankar Das said.

RAIN IN LAST 24 HOURS