Bhubaneswar: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘Yellow Warning’ for a majority of Odisha’s districts, urging residents to “Be Aware” of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds for the next seven days.
The alert, highlighted in the midday bulletin from the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, warns of isolated weather activity that could disrupt daily life.
The warning is most extensive for the first three days (from October 6 to 9), covering over 20 districts including Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Angul, Mayurbhanj, and the entire coastal belt from Balasore to Gajapati. During this period, thunderstorms with lightning and gusty surface winds reaching 30-40 kmph are very likely to occur at one or two places in these regions.
While the spatial coverage of the warning slightly reduces from Day 4, coastal and northern districts like Balasore, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Ganjam, Keonjhar, and Mayurbhanj remain under the Yellow Warning until Day 5. The IMD forecasts that the weather activity will gradually become more confined to the coastal and southern parts of the state towards the end of the week.
This prolonged alert comes on the back of already active weather conditions. In the last 24 hours, light to moderate rain occurred at many places across Odisha, with heavy rainfall recorded in Puri (8 cm), Kendrapara (7 cm), and Gajapati (7 cm).
The IMD has advised the public to stay updated for location-specific lightning warnings and forecasts, emphasizing caution during the period of the alert.