Bhubaneswar: Odisha came under intense heat wave on Wednesday with the capital city of Bhubaneswar emerging the hottest place in the state with 43.2 degree Celsius, the highest this season and the highest in April in the last six years.
Apart from Bhubaneswar, temperature went up to 40 degrees and above in 15 places: Balasore (41), Chandbali (41.3), Cuttack (40.6), Angul (40.7), Baripada (40.8), Jharsuguda (41), Sambalpur (40.8), Sundergarh (42), Talcher (41.6), Bhawanipatna (40.5), Balangir (41), Titlagarh (40.5), Malkangiri (42), Sonepur (41.2) and Dhenkanal (40.6).
Reports said the temperature went up rapidly in the capital city after 10 AM, shooting up to 43.2 degrees by 2 PM. Due to the intense heat, normally busy thoroughfares and market places wore a deserted look. While commuters were seen travelling in bikes and buses with their faces covered with clothes, the pedestrians took shelter under the tree shade to escape from the searing heat.
Talking to OTV, Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu, Director, Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said the cloud formed over central Odisha and stretching up to the coastal belt last night was cleared this morning. Besides, there is no report of hailstorm in any part in central or coastal region of the state since last 24 hours. As a result, temperature in these areas has gone up.
He said while the heat wave would continue in Central Odisha, temperature in most parts of coastal region, which had come down in the last two weeks, will shoot up again due to clear sky conditions and the wind flow at about 15 kmph from the north-west direction, which has started since last afternoon.
Stating that the heat wave has started in central India since last 3-4 days with temperature going up to 40 degree Celsius at some places, Sahu said since the wind flow is from the central India towards Odisha, rise in temperature in the state is inevitable.
“The distance between central India and Jharsuguda is less than the distance between Jharsuguda and the coastal districts. As a result, the hot wind blowing from the central India to Jharsuguda becomes hotter in the coastal belt as it carries more heat from the surface,” he pointed out.
Talking about the temperature in the capital city in April in previous years, Sahu said the city, which had recorded 43.6 degrees on April 9, 2010, usually records around 42 degrees from the third and fourth week of April.
He further said there is a possibility of hailstorm in some parts of central and north Odisha this evening.
Asked whether there would be any further rise in temperature in coastal Odisha, Sahu said as per the model indicator, there is a possibility that temperature will come down in the next two days as there is a possibility of hailstorm in some parts in the coastal belt.
“But the temperature would go up again after April 9,” he warned.