Mercury above 40 degree in 17 places; no respite for a week

Bhubaneswar: With no chances of rain, the met department has predicted that the unrelenting heat wave will continue to sweep the State for at least a week.

A Met release this evening said Sonepur was the hottest place in the state today at 45.8 degree Celsius while temperature went up to 40 degrees and beyond in 17 places: Chandbali (41.5), Bhubaneswar (40.4), Angul (42.7), Baripada (43.5), Jharsuguda (43.6), Keonjhar (42), Sambalpur (43.4), Sundergarh (44.5), Hirakud (43.6), Talcher (42.8), Bhawanipatna (44.5), Balangir (44), Phulbani (41), Titlagarh (45.7) and Malkangiri (44).

“A cyclonic circulation has formed over Bangladesh, adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, and nearby regions. The effect of the cyclonic circulation is being felt up to 900 meters in the atmosphere. On account of this cyclonic storm, a trough line has extended till South Chhattisgarh through Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, and interior parts of Odisha. Due to this trough line, the coastal parts of Odisha are experiencing wind flow at around 20 kmph. On the western side of the trough line covering interior and coastal Odisha, the wind flow is from the from north western side. Hence, the temperatures are likely to stay high in interior and western Odisha. However, the temperatures in coastal Odisha have not risen because of the direction changes in the wind flow. Moreover, due to presence of humidity in the wind, the temperatures are not rising as the sunlight is resulting in evaporation of water particles. This might see humid conditions prevailing during certain parts of the day. But, the heat will continue in interior Odisha with temperatures ranging from 42 and 45 degree Celsius,” said Met department director Sarat Sahu.

The model indicates no likelihood of rain and for the next seven days. Interior Odisha will experience similar heat while there could be minor variations in the temperatures in coastal Odisha, Sahu added.