Bhubaneswar: Entire Odisha is reeling under intense heat wave conditions with the temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius in at least 30 places in the state Wednesday.
Coal town Talcher in Angul district recorded the state’s highest temperature of 43.2 deg C while the mercury crossed the 41 deg C mark for the first time this summer at twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during the day, according to a bulletin of IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre.
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities recorded a maximum temperature of 41.7 deg C and 41.5 deg C, respectively.
Among other places which recorded a temperature of 40 deg C and above were Nuapada at 43 deg C, Boudh & Paralakhemundi (42.8), Nayagarh & Angul (42.7), Baripada (42.6), Titlagarh (42.5), Bhawanipatna & Malkangiri at 42 deg C.
The IMD centre predicted that the day temperature is likely to rise gradually by 2 to 3 deg C at many places over the state during the next two days.
The maximum temperature would be more than 40 degrees C or above at many places in the state for the next five days, it said.
Forecasting a heatwave, the weather office has issued an Orange Warning (be prepared) for the districts of Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Gajapati, and Nayagarh for April 18.
Yellow warning (be updated) has been issued for the districts of Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Angul, Boudh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, and Bargarh for the day.
Similarly, for April 19, Orange Warning has been issued for Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Gajapati and Nayagarh districts while Yellow Warning has been given for Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Sonepur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Angul, Jharsuguda, and Sundargarh districts.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Wednesday announced the closure of all schools in the state from April 18 to 20, in view of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) heatwave forecast.
All schools including those run by the government, government-aided and private will remain closed for three days in view of prevailing heatwave conditions and rise in day temperature.
Baripada town in Mayurbhanj district was the hottest place in the entire country on Tuesday with a temperature of 43.6 degrees Celsius, weather scientist Umashankar Das said.
PTI