Bhubaneswar: After nearly two weeks of intense heatwave conditions, a change in weather is expected across several districts of Odisha from Tuesday, with Nor’westers likely to bring heavy rain and gusty winds.
IMD officials said nor’wester rain activity is likely to peak between Tuesday and Thursday, driven by a surge in southerly winds bringing moisture from the Bay of Bengal.
Heavy rain is expected at several places between April 28 and May 2, with rainfall likely to intensify from April 29. Wind speeds may reach 50 to 60 kmph, and temperatures are also expected to drop by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius over the next two days across several districts, offering some relief from the prevailing heat.
Till 8.30 am of April 29, a yellow warning has been issued for thunderstorm activity with lightning and light to moderate rainfall in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, and Kandhamal districts. Wind speeds in these areas are expected to range between 30 and 40 kmph.
Despite the expected change, heatwave warnings have been issued for Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Boudh, Nayagarh and Subarnapur districts Tuesday. Hot and humid weather warnings have been sounded for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati districts, IMD stated in its daily weather bulletin.
Meanwhile, at least 15 towns in the state recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in the past 24 hours. Jharsuguda was the hottest at 44.7 degrees Celsius, followed by Bargarh at 43.9 degrees, Boudh at 43.5 degrees and Balangir at 43.3 degrees, according to reports.