Cold wave to continue in Odisha, temperature dips sharply in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack: IMD

Cold wave conditions returned to most districts of Odisha on Friday night with a steep fall in temperature throwing normal lives out of gear. Further, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated in its forecast that the cold conditions will continue for at least the subsequent four to five days.

Notably, cold wave conditions gripped the state capital region from the intervening night of Thursday and Friday when the mercury levels plummeted sharply. Bhubaneswar recorded a fall in temperatures by 3.2 degrees Celsius over one day and reeled at 12.3 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, neighbouring Cuttack noticed a 2 degree temperature drop and shivered at 12.4 degrees Celsius. The steep temperature drop was also accompanied by cold winds from the northwest, which further intensified the chilly conditions.

Weather situations under the impact of the cold wave were also aggravated by persistent dense fog conditions across many interior districts. Koraput recorded a thick layer of fog where visibility fell below 20 meters. Further, Phulbani also witnessed dense fog conditions with visibility lying between 50 to 200 meters.

As per the Friday forecast of the IMD, there will be no large change in the minimum temperature across most districts of the state for the next 4 to 5 days.

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The Bhubaneswar Centre of the IMD also issued shallow to moderate fog warnings for parts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Cuttack, Khordha, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, and Jharsuguda districts, which will remain valid until the morning of 20th January.