Rain, squall likely to bring some relief to scorched Odisha

Odisha got some respite from sultry weather as the maximum temperature dropped by a few notches in several districts on Thursday, even as the mercury level was 40 degrees Celsius or above in at least 10 areas, the Meteorological Office said.

It forecast scattered rainfall and thunderstorms with gusty winds in many districts on Friday and Saturday due to strong southwesterly wind from the Bay of Bengal to the northeastern states.

The temperature will fall by 2-3 degrees over the next couple of days, following which it will gradually rise again by three-four notches from Sunday, according to the department.

The mercury level shot up to 42 degrees or more in four weather stations, including Subarnapur and Sundargarh towns in western Odisha where it was 42.5 each, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

The maximum temperature settled at 36.8 degrees in Bhubaneswar, a notch below normal, and 35.6 in Cuttack, two points below normal, a bulletin said.

Malkangiri received moderate rain of 26.2 mm from the morning till 5.30 pm of Thursday.