Bhubaneswar: People in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and its nearby areas woke up to the season’s first dense fog, as visibility plummeted to 15-20 metres in the early hours of Wednesday.
Not only Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the interior parts of Angul, Sambalpur and Deogarh also witnessed dense foggy conditions this morning, informed weather expert at Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, Uma Shankar Das.
Vehicular movement on the National & State Highways was severely affected as motorists were seen cautiously driving due to the poor visibility.
"Similar conditions are likely to prevail tomorrow. From November 20, cloudy weather conditions will prevail, as such there is possibility of a rise in temperature," added Das.
With the winter setting in, the night temperature continued to hover around 15 degree Celsius in many places of the State. Koraput recorded 15 degree Celsius on Tuesday, while mercury dropped to 15.5 degree Celsius in Sonepur and Daringbadi of Kandhamal district. Angul witnessed night temperature of 15.6 degree C, informed India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Regional Centre in Bhubaneswar.
"The night temperature has relatively increased over the last few days. As per predictions, some districts will witness low to medium rainfall between November 20 and 21 after which temperature will dip in the State," said Das.
The Bhubaneswar Met Centre had on Tuesday informed that a Low Pressure Area (LOPAR) is likely to form over Southeast Arabian Sea on November 19. "It is very likely to move west- northwestwards & concentrate into a Depression over Southeast and adjoining East-central Arabian Sea during the subsequent 48 hrs," said the weather office.
Under the influence of the LOPAR, light to moderate rain or thundershower is very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Puri, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and dry weather is expected over rest districts of Odisha on November 20.
Similarly On November 21, light to moderate rain or thundershower is expected to occur at one or two places over the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Puri, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Nabarangpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and dry weather is very likely to prevail over the rest districts of Odisha. No large change in minimum temperature (Night Temperature) during next 2-3 days over the districts of Odisha, informed the Met Centre.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)