Odisha Sees Coldest February In 5 Years; Here’s Why

Bhubaneswar: Odisha witnessed the coldest February since 2015 with untimely rain and windy conditions plummeting the day temperature to a record low on Saturday.

Balasore recorded 17.2 degree Celsius, which was 7.8 degree Celsius below normal. The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack saw a similar drop in the day temperature. The maximum temperature at Cuttack was 19.6 degree Celsius, 5.8 degrees below normal. The mercury plunged 5.1 degree below normal in Bhubaneswar, which recoded 20.6 degree Celsius during the day. These cities had recorded 22.4 degree Celsius and 23.3 degree Celsius respectively the previous day.

The drop in the temperature following rain and windy conditions is being attributed to a western disturbance associated with sub-tropical westerly jet.

“Most places in Odisha saw an overcast sky and rainfall activity in the last five days leading to the drop in temperature,” scientist with Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Umasankar Das told the TNIE.

The Met office has forecast thunderstorm with lightning and gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph at one or two places in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar , Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Jajpur,  Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Nayagarh districts till 8.30 am on Sunday (February 9).

The chill is set to return in the next 24 hours with cold wave gripping one or two places in Angul, Sonepur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts.

On Monday, cold wave conditions are likely to prevail at one or two places in Angul, Sundargarh, Balangir, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts, besides dense fog at one or two places in Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Koraput.

Also Read: Cold Wave To Grip Odisha From Tomorrow, Dense Fog Alert For 3 Days

The rainfall activity, however, is expected to subside by Monday with dry weather forecast from thereon.