Bhubaneswar:  With less than a week left for arrival of monsoon in Odisha, the heat wave continues to roast most parts of the state as mercury hovered above 40 degree Celsius in as many as nine places today.

With 43.6 degree Celsius, Sambalpur was the hottest place in the state, the Met office said.

Western Odisha towns continued to be scorched by the heat wave forcing people to stay indoors during the day time.

The industrial town Jharsuguda recorded 42.2 degree Celsius, Hirakud (43.1), Balangir (42), Bhawanipatna (40.5), Titlagarh (42.6), Malkangiri (41) and Sonepur (40.8).

The state capital Bhubaneswar recorded 37.7 degree Celsius while neighbouring Cuttack witnessed 36.5 degree Celsius.

The coastal Odisha, however, witnessed a marginal fall in the maximum day temperature. Chandbali recorded 38.2 degree Celsius, Gopalpur (32.7), Puri (33.5), Balasore (36.5) and Paradip (32.5).

Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted that 20 districts such as Angul, Bolangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Deogarh, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Khordha, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundergarh will experience light to moderate rainfall between 8 pm and 11 pm today.