A late bout of the winter chill swept Odisha on Saturday, with a cold wave gripping some districts and the minimum temperature plunging in many places. At least 15 weather stations logged a minimum below 10 degrees Celsius as the northwesterly dry and cold winds prevailed over the region, a bulletin stated.
The mercury dropped significantly at some places in coastal Odisha and it was below normal at many areas across the state, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said. "Kandhamal district shivered under intense cold as Daringbadi hill station and Phulbani town recorded 6 degrees Celsius each, the lowest in the state," it said.
The minimum dropped by 6 notches from normal to settle at 9 degrees in Angul and by 5.8 points to 8 degrees in Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district. The MeT declares a cold wave when the minimum dips to at least 4 degrees in the plains, or 10 degrees and at least 4.5 notches below normal. For coastal stations, it should be 15 degrees Celsius or less, or the departure is at least 4.5 notches from normal.
Bhubaneswar recorded 11.2 degrees Celsius, 4.9 notches below normal, while it was down by 3.2 to settle at 13.2 degrees in Cuttack. The mercury dropped to 14.5 degrees in Puri and 11.4 in Balasore, it added. Minimum temperatures will be 3-5 degrees Celsius below normal in many places during the next two days, according to the weather office.
It warned that the cold wave would prevail in Kandhamal, Angul, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Boudh and Nabarangpur during the next the 24 hours. Cold wave may persist at some places in Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Bargarh, Subarnapur, Kalahandi, Nuapada till Monday, the bulletin stated.
With PTI Inputs
