Bhubaneswar: With the mercury soaring, eight places in Odisha recorded 35°C or more on Monday with Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda being the hottest places in the state. Both places recorded 37.2°C each.
The mercury touched 37°C in Balasore, 36°C in Sambalpur and Hirakud, 35.4°C in Keonjhar, and 35°C in Gopalpur and Puri by 11.37 am, on Monday the regional office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The day temperature in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack is likely to touch 40°C in the next few days and the hot and humid conditions may continue for the next seven days.
“A significantly higher number of heat wave days are predicted over parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana,” said IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mahapatra.
According to weather experts, the normal temperature at many places in the state may touch 40°C by April 12. “There has been a decline in thunderstorm activity and this may lead to an increase in day temperature by 2°C to 3°C at some places during the next two to three days.
Meanwhile, the IMD on Monday issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms with lightning at one or two places in Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Kalahandi and Sundargarh districts till 8.30 am on Tuesday. Light to moderate rain or thunderstorms is also likely in Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Gajapati districts during this period.
Some places in southern and coastal Odisha may experience rain for the next two days but the state will experience dry weather thereafter.
