Bhubaneswar: After a week-long respite, mercury has gone up sharply again in most parts of Odisha. Worse still, the forecast of the local Met office says that the condition will prevail in the state, especially in the central and western Odisha, for the next five days.
According to a local Met office release here this evening, eight places in the western and central Odisha recorded 40 degrees and above with Balangir being the highest at 42 degrees.
Other places where the temperature went up to 40 degrees and above are Jharsuguda (40.5), Sundergarh (40), Hirakud (40.2), Bhawanipatna (41.5), Titlagarh (41.6), Malkangiri (41) and Sonepur (40).
Talking to OTV earlier in the day, director, Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu said temperature will rise to 40 degree Celsius and above in most places in interior and western Odisha in the next 24 hours. Compared to these places, temperature in the coastal Odisha would remain below 40 degree.
Stating that temperature in coastal Odisha had gone up sharply yesterday as the wind speed was less, he said there will be an average drop of 2-3 degrees in the coastal region today as the wind speed has increased.
“Yesterday, the wind speed was around 15 kmph. But today, it is around 30 kmph with a variation of 5 km at some places. Moreover, as the wind flow today is from the south and south-west direction from the sea towards the land, temperature will be relatively less than it was yesterday,” he added.
Sahu also informed that a cyclonic circulation had formed over the north Gangetic West Bengal where a trough line is stretched up to south of Chhattisgarh through interior Odisha. Under its influence, the wind flow in coastal Odisha is from south-west direction while the wind flow is from north-west and west direction in interior Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
“As a result, the hot wind is not able to penetrate into the coastal region due to anti-cyclonic flow from south Andhra Pradesh from where the wind, carrying water vapours from the sea, enters Odisha through Rayalseema via north Andhra Pradesh,” he pointed out.
Sahu also said that there is a possibility of Norwester at one or two places in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Kandhamal districts this afternoon. “Besides, as the wind is flowing at a lower level in the atmosphere, there is a possibility of hail storm in these places,” he added.
Temperature in the capital city, which was 39.8 degrees yesterday, was recorded at 37 degrees at 11 AM today.