Bhubaneswar: Pre-monsoon rain lashed most parts of coastal and interior Odisha today with the capital city recording 60 mm rainfall for the second day running.
Meanwhile, the local Met office has said the southwest monsoon is expected to hit the state by the second week of this month.
Talking to OTV, Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu, Director, Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said a cyclonic circulation, which was formed over west-central Bay of Bengal 2.1 km above the mean sea level along North Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha coast, has remained static.
Besides, a trough line has formed over Punjab across interior Odisha while a cyclonic circulation has also formed over interior Odisha 1.5 km from the mean sea level.
“Under its influence, temperature in some parts interior Odisha, which was over 40 degree Celsius yesterday, will come down below 40 degrees due to pre-monsoon rainfall. The temperature will remain below 40 degrees in most parts of the region for the next 3-4 days,” he added.
Sahu also said under the influence of the prevailing system, there will be rainfall in coastal and south Odisha in the next 24 hours.
Since the wind flow is from the south-east direction, it carries more moisture to the land. Hence, there is more possibility of rainfall in interior Odisha also.
Talking about the southwest monsoon, Sahu said as per model indicator, it is most likely to hit Kerala coast in the next 2-3 days.
“Only after the monsoon hits Kerala coast, we will be able to predict its movement towards Odisha depending on the wind speed and weather conditions. But the prevailing weather condition is favourable to drag the monsoon current to the Odisha coast. If this condition prevails, the duration for the monsoon to reach Odisha coast from Kerala would be less. Considering this, we can say for the time being that the monsoon would tentatively hit the Odisha coast by the second week of June,” he pointed out.
Bhubaneswar received above 55 mm of rainfall for the second consecutive day today. It received 57.7 mm rainfall during the last 24 hours, while Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhamal, received 53 mm of rain.
Sambalpur and Hirakud received 14.4 mm and 10.6 mm of rains respectively, the MeT office said, adding barring Bolangir, the whole of in western Odisha recorded temperature below 40 degree Celsius.