Bhubaneswar: Thundersquall with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph may occur at isolated places in Odisha on March 20-21, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Friday.
The forecast has come as a cyclonic circulation persists over westcentral Bay of Bengal off north Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
The weather agency has issued an orange warning of thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and hail along with gusty surface wind speed reaching up to 50-60 kmph for isolated places in the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundrgarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Malkangiri and Koraput till March 21 morning. Yellow warning of thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and gusty surface wind speed reaching up to 30-40 kmph is also likely at isolated places in Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Puri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Balangir, Nuapada, Boudh, Sonepur, Angul, Dhenkanal and Deogarh districts.
Light to moderate rain or thunderstorm may also occur at a few places in Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj,Sonepur, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Balasore and Bhadrak.
The orange and yellow warnings continue for Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts and Keonjhar, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Kendrapada respectively, during the subsequent 24 hours. Light to moderate rain or thunderstorm very also occur at one or two places in districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Rayagada and Koraput.
People in the 10 districts with orange alert have been advised to keep watch on the weather and take shelter during the thunderstorm activity to protect from lightning and follow traffic advisories in urban areas. “Also harvesting of crops may be regulated judicially and farmers are advised to use hail nets to protect vegetables and crops from hail,” it said.
The IMD also warned of squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting up to 60 kmph along & off the North Odisha Coast on these two days. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea as conditions are very likely to be rough to very rough.
On March 23, thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and gusty surface wind speed reaching up to 30-40 kmph may continue at isolated places in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar.
While there is no warning thereafter, light to moderate rain may continue in parts of South and North Odisha till March 26.
The day temperature may fall gradually by 2-3 °C during the next 3 days and thereafter gradually rise again by 2-3 °C during the subsequent 4 days, it added.
