Bhubaneswar: With no respite from the prevailing heatwave across Odisha, people woke up on Thursday to uneasy weather as the humidity level was 73 per cent in Bhubaneswar and 67 per cent in Cuttack at 8.30 am.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) here has forecast that the heatwave condition will continue across the state till Saturday and the mercury is expected to drop somewhat from Sunday due to the effects of Kalbaisakhi. The IMD has issued heatwave alerts for 19 districts of the state, including Khurda and Cuttack, on Thursday
The weather office has forecast that the weather conditions would deteriorate further with the mercury rising by 2°C to 3°C in several places in the next two days. In Bhubaneswar, the maximum temperature may touch around 42°C today.
Severe heatwave conditions are very likely to prevail at isolated pockets in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Anugul and Nayagarh
Heatwave conditions are very likely to prevail at one or two places in Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, and Boudh.
Hot and humid weather conditions are very likely to prevail at many places in the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, and Gajapati, the IMD said on Thursday.
According to the IMD, Odisha usually experiences 11 days of heatwave between April and June but this year the heatwave spell may be for anything between 17 and 25 days. The weather office has warned that the day temperature may touch 45°C in some places of Odisha during this period. The intense heatwave has already led the state government to announce the closure of all schools for three days from April 18 to 20.
However, people can expect some respite from Sunday due to the influence of thundershowers and strong westerly winds.
