Mercury plummets below 10 deg C in parts of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Cold weather conditions prevailed in several tribal-dominated districts of Odisha as the mercury plummeted below the 10 degrees Celsius mark on Tuesday.

G Udayagiri in Kandhamal district recorded the lowest temperature in the state at 7.2 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar said.

Keonjhar and Kirei in Sundargarh district recorded a temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Daringbadi (9.5) and Phulbani (10), both in Kandhamal district.

Angul in central Odisha registered a temperature of 10.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Sundergarh (11), Koraput (11.2) and Balasore and Rourkela at 11.3 degrees Celsius each, the weather office said.

The mercury dropped below 15 degrees Celsius in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, which recorded night temperatures of 14.6 and 14.5 degrees Celsius respectively. The temperature in the state capital was 1.4 degrees below normal, the IMD said.

In tribal areas in Kandhamal, Koraput, Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts, people were seen sitting around fires to beat the cold.

This year, the arrival of cold weather conditions in the state was delayed from November to the first week of December due to the influence of cyclonic rain, a met department official said, adding night temperature dropped by 2-3 degrees Celsius in the last couple of days due to north-westerly dry winds.

The IMD forecast till December 14 a dip in the night temperature by 2-4 degrees Celsius at many places across the state.

"Cold wave conditions are likely to prevail in most parts of Odisha till January 2," HR Biswas, Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar said.