Odisha cold wave: IMD issues yellow warning as several districts continue to freeze

The Regional Meteorological Department in Bhubaneswar issued a cautionary alert on Monday warning of a further drop in temperature and continued chill under a persisting cold wave for the next 24 hours across Odisha.

Besides, it also issued a yellow warning for potentially severe cold wave conditions for the districts of Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, and Angul.

The lowest temperature in Odisha was recorded at G. Udayagiri at 6.6 degrees Celsius, among hill stations, while among cities, Jharsuguda and Rourkela saw mercury plummet to 6.8 degrees Celsius. The steel city also had the lowest visibility at 50 meters with dense prevailing.

Meanwhile, the capital city of Bhubaneswar recorded a minimum temperature of 13 degrees Celsius while neighbouring Cuttack shivered at 11.5 degrees Celsius.

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The forecast bulletin, issued by Sanjeev Dwivedi of the Regional Meteorological Department also stated that there was a possibility of light rainfall at a few isolated places across Puri, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, and Koraput districts on the 17th of December.

He also added that no large change in minimum temperature will be observed over the next 2 days, giving people no respite from the cold wave. However, mercury may see a rise of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius after that in several districts of the state.

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The persistent cold wave has thrown normal lives out of gear across the state. Despite clear skies, the temperature drop has intensified the cold, with places like the Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district recording the minimum temperature of the winter season this year at 3 degrees Celsius.