Bhubaneswar: Under the influence of a trough extending from Gangetic West Bengal to south Chhattisgarh across Odisha, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday forecast light to moderate rain and thundershowers in several parts of the state over the next few days, with thunderstorm activity likely to intensify intermittently.
According to the Evening Weather Bulletin issued by the IMD’s Meteorological Centre here, light to moderate rain or thundershowers are very likely at one or two places across northern, coastal and southern districts including Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Ganjam and Koraput till Thursday morning.
The IMD has issued a yellow warning for several districts, cautioning that thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty surface winds reaching speeds of 40–50 kmph are likely at isolated places, particularly in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput.
Rainfall activity is expected to continue in parts of the state over the next three to four days, with a wider spatial distribution likely from March 27. Thunderstorm warnings have again been issued for multiple districts during this period, indicating the persistence of unstable weather conditions.
However, dry weather is likely to prevail over several interior districts intermittently during the forecast period, the bulletin said.
Temperature-wise, the IMD has forecast a gradual rise in maximum (day) temperature by 2–4°C over the next two days, with no significant change thereafter.
Among major observations on Wednesday, Sonepur recorded the highest maximum temperature at 38°C, while Titlagarh and Bhawanipatna also reported high temperatures of around 37.5°C and 36.5°C respectively. Coastal and northern districts such as Bhadrak and Jajpur received notable rainfall during the day, with Bhadrak recording 22 mm between morning and evening hours.
For Bhubaneswar and adjoining areas, the IMD forecast a partly cloudy sky over the next 24 hours, with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 36°C and 24°C respectively.
No warning has been issued for fishermen along the Odisha coast for the next five days, the bulletin added.
