BHUBANESWAR: Odisha witnessed the first signs of winter with eight places recording below normal minimum temperature on Friday.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reports, Angul recorded 13.8 degree Celsius against its normal minimum temperature of 19.6 on the day while mercury in Bhawanipatna dipped to 15.5 degree compared to the normal 18.6 and Puri reported 20.4 degree which is less than 2.9 degree of its average.
Temperature at Gopalpur was 20.5 degree as against its average of 22.3 while it was 17.2 degree at Jharsuguda which is 1.8 degree below normal.
As compared to its average of 20.8 degree, Cuttack reported 20 degree. Chandbali in Bhadrak and Sambalpur recorded 0.1 and 0.8 degree Celsius below normal minimum temperature respectively.
Other places that recorded less than 20 degree Celsius are Phulbani, Daringbadi, Koraput, Keonjhar, Talcher, Balangir, Boudh, Baripada, Hirakud and Bhubaneswar. Sonepur was the coldest at 12.8 degree Celsius.
Odisha, IMD, attributed the dip in minimum temperature to the northerly and north-westerly winds flowing towards the State. However, the cold condition is expected to subside from November 1 onwards.
“Minimum temperature will rise under the influence of a low pressure area likely to form over east-central Bay of Bengal on Saturday. The temperature will start dipping again from November 5 onwards,” said Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Scientist, Umasankar Das.
The system is expected to skirt Odisha and move towards Bangladesh coast in the subsequent 48 hours. Met office has forecast light to moderate rainfall at isolated places in coastal Odisha between November 1 and 3.