BHUBANESWAR: After a longish monsoon and warm welcome to winter, mercury in Bhubaneswar has dropped by a whopping eight degree Celsius in the last four days.
The state capital recorded the minimum temperature of 25 degree C on November 1 but by Tuesday night, it had plunged to 17 degree C.
The pattern was similar for other stations too. Coastal town Puri saw a five degree C fall in three days while Rourkela reported a six degree C decline in four days.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the minimum temperature is likely to further drop in the state within the next two days even as Odisha has been experiencing colder nights.
The national weather forecaster said that night temperature is expected to further fall by two degree C to four deg C. In the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, the minimum temperature was below normal by four deg C to six deg C at some places in north Odisha.
Meanwhile, Phulbani recorded the season’s lowest temperature of 12.5 deg C, followed by Daringbadi (14 deg C), Jharsuguda (14.5 deg C) and Angul (15 deg C). Cuttack recorded 17.6 deg C on Wednesday.
While dense fog prevailed at isolated places in Koraput district, shallow fog occurred at a few places in Sundargarh. However, the regional met office has not issued any fog warning for the state in the coming days.
Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty said certain places of Odisha recorded two to six degree C below normal night temperature under the influence of the north-westerly winds blowing towards the state. “The flow of the north-westerly winds is expected to continue due to a western disturbance for which colder nights are expected throughout this week,” she added.
According to the regional met office, dry weather and clear sky conditions are likely to prevail over the state till November 11 for which there will be no large change in minimum temperature till next week.