Bhubaneswar: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Sunday issued an orange warning for thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty surface wind till Monday.
“Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty surface wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph are very likely to occur at one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Boudh, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Koraput and Rayagada districts,” the IMD said.
Moreover, it forecast hailstorms at one or two places in Dhenkanal, Boudh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada, and Koraput districts.
Due to the likely interaction of the middle tropospheric westerly trough with lower level easterly and moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, meteorological conditions are becoming favourable for moderate thunderstorm activity with lightning, hail, heavy rain, gusty surface wind and scattered to fairly widespread rainfall over the districts of Odisha during the next three to four days, it added.
Meanwhile, Odisha heaved a sigh of relief from heat wave conditions as the maximum temperature came down by a few degrees Celsius in most of the areas across the state.
The IMD has advised people to keep watch on the weather and take safe shelter during thunderstorm activity to protect them from lightning and follow traffic advisories in urban areas.
