Bhubaneswar: The industrial town of Jharsuguda recorded the hottest place in Odisha Sunday at 44.8 degrees Celsius, even as heatwave conditions swept through the western region of the state, IMD said.
Seven places in Western Odisha recorded temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius and above.
Jharsuguda (44.8) was followed by Subarnapur (43.7), Titlagarh (43.6), Bhawanipatna (43.4), Bolangir (43.1), Boudh and Sambalpur 43 degrees Celsius each. The other hot places in the western region were Sundergarh (42.8), Rourkela (42.7), Nuapada (42.5), Hirakud (42.4), Angul (41.9), Talcher (41.5) and Nayagarh at 42.5 degrees Celsius, it said.
According to the evening bulletin issued by the IMD, at least 17 places across Odisha recorded temperatures at or above 40 degrees Celsius.
However, there was some respite in coastal parts of the state, including Bhubaneswar, where the maximum temperature was recorded at 35.5 degrees Celsius.
Cuttack recorded a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius.
There was a fall in mercury level at least by one degree Celsius in the entire coastal region, even as the high relative humidity caused a lot of discomfort, an IMD official said.
Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Director Manorama Mohanty said that the fall in temperature in coastal districts is due to moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal.
She said that no significant rise in daytime temperatures is expected in coastal regions over the next 24 hours.
In a forecast for Monday, the IMD said hot and humid conditions are very likely to prevail at 11 districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati.
The weather office also issued a yellow warning (be aware) of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty surface wind (wind speed reaching up to 30 to 40 kmph) likely to occur in the afternoon/ evening hours over the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Balasore Monday.
Notably, roads have been wearing a deserted look after 11 am, as people largely stayed indoors across the state to avoid the intense heatwave.
Following concerns over heatstroke incidents, the state government has also halted census work between 11 am and 3 pm in view of the safety of enumerators.
Meanwhile, the state government has also announced summer vacations for schools, which will begin Monday.