BHUBANESWAR: The ‘very severe cyclonic storm Titli, which made landfall between Gopalpur and Palasa coast early Thursday morning will gradually turn into a depression by Friday noon. Accordingly, weather in Odisha will improve from October 13, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said. “The tropical storm over South Odisha now lay centered about 110 km west from Gopalpur and 140 km south-west of Phulbani.
It is very likely to move north-westwards for next six hours and then recurve north-eastwards towards Gangetic West Bengal,” read a special bulletin of IMD on Thursday evening. Giving more details, Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre HR Biswas said, “During this course the storm which has weakened into a cyclone will further weaken into a deep depression and then depression by Friday noon.” In view of the depression, the weather office has predicted rain and thundershowers in most places across Odisha on Friday.
Warning of ‘heavy to very heavy rainfall’ has also been issued for parts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Angul and Mayurbhanj for the day. However, Biswas said the surface wind speed will remain around 30 to 45 kmph on the day. “The weather will improve from October 13 onwards,” he added. Earlier in the day, Titli wreaked havoc in Ganjam and Gajapati with surface wind speed remaining 126 kmph in Gopalpur. The storm uprooted trees, damaged thatched and asbestos houses besides street lights in both the districts.