BHUBANESWAR: Winter chill has finally set in the state with more than 15 places recording a dip in temperature to below 15 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Mercury plunged to 7 degrees Celsius at G Udayagiri in Kandhamal district making it the coldest place in the state on Thursday.
Met officials said three places in Kandhamal district including G Udayagiri recorded minimum temperature below 10 degree Celsius. Apart from G Udayagiri, the temperature dropped to 9 degree Celsius in Phulbani and 9.5 degrees Celsius in Daringbadi. Kirei in Sundargarh district recorded a low of 9 degree Celsius.
On the other hand, more than 15 places in the state recorded minimum temperatures in the range of 10 to 15 degree Celsius. The mercury stood at 10.2 degree Celsius in Keonjhar followed by 10.4 degree in Koraput, 10.7 at Semiliguda, 10.6 in Sundargarh, 11 in Angul, 11.2 in Ranital, 11.9 in Rourkela and 12 in Jharsuguda.
Twin-city Bhubaneswar and Cuttack recorded minimum temperature of 15.5 degree. On the other hand, the maximum day temperature of 29.6 degree was recoded at Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district.
Dense fog was also reported in parts of Koraput, Phulbani and Rourkela, while shallow fog occured in parts of Keonjhar.
Met officials said shallow to moderate fog may occur in parts of nine districts in the next 48 hours. The fall in temperature has prompted the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) to issue a caution order asking people to take special care of children and elderly people and stay indoors if the temperature plummets further.
Met officials said the cold conditions will prevail but there would not be any large change in minimum temperature in most parts of the state during the next five days. Shallow to moderate fog is most likely to occur during morning in parts of Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Angul, Dhenkanal and Boudh during the next two days, the weather forecaster said.
“However, there would be no major change in weather conditions in the near future. Northwesterly winds that bring cold temperature is still weak for which the possibility of any major change in the weather condition in the next few days is low,” said Bhubaneswar met centre scientist Umasankar Das.
Below 100 Celsius
G Udayagiri: 70
Phulbani: 90
Daringbadi: 9.50