Thunderstorm alert issued for 21 Odisha districts

Bhubaneswar: The regional meteorological centre issued thunderstorm alert for Bhubaneswar and 21 districts across Odisha for today.

The thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and moderate rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Nayagarh, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Khordha including Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kalahandi and Koraput between 2.45 pm and 6.45 pm, said Bhubaneswar MeT in a bulletin.

Meanhwile, under influence of the cyclonic circulation over northern parts of Gangetic West Bengal and neighbourhood, a low pressure area has been formed over coastal areas of West Bengal and north Odisha and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal.

The associated cyclonic circulation extends upto 5.8 km above mean sea level tilting southwards with height. The system is likely to become more marked during next 24 hrs.

The IMD predicted that the above system is likely to trigger widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls over Odisha and its neighbouring States Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh during next 48 hours.

Extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places is also likely over Odisha on August 26.