Heat wave: Odisha witnesses shift in weather conditions as mercury falls 

After reeling under severe heat wave conditions for around 10 days, the state on Friday experienced a sudden shift in weather conditions, bringing much-welcomed relief to the people. 

With 43 degrees Celsius, Bhubaneswar was the second hottest city in the State yesterday. However, today, the city witnessed a cloudy sky, cool breeze, and a slight drizzle, bringing down the temperature by several notches. The capital city recorded 36.1 degrees Celsius today. 

As per the IMD report, places like Jharsuguda, Chandbali, Balasore, Sambalpur and Keonjhar, where scorching heat was experienced yesterday, witnessed a change in the weather conditions today. 

“With the change in the weather conditions, we are feeling good today. Due to the heat wave, we had to remain indoors for the last couple of days. Today, we along with our children are out to enjoy the weather conditions,” said a Bhubaneswar resident. 

Informing about the weather conditions, a scientist of IMD’s regional centre in Bhubaneswar, Sanjeev Dwivedi said, “In the coming days, Odisha will get more moisture supply triggering thunderstorm activity with lightning and gusty surface wind, leading to further decline in the temperature.”

In this regard, weather scientist Sarat Sahu said, “A high-pressure area will be formed over the Bay of Bengal. Because of this, Odisha will get more water vapour. And it will continue till April 28 and 29.  At the same time, with the interaction of the westerly trough line and moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, the intensity of Nor’wester rain will increase from tomorrow.”

As per the weather experts, moderate thunderstorm activity with lightning, gusty surface wind reaching speeds up to 40-50 kmph, and scattered to fairly widespread rainfall over the districts of Odisha are likely during the next 3 to 4 days.