Bhubaneswar, May 22: The regional meteorological centre has predicted early onset of monsoon in the state.

The Met department's forecast came on a day when Titlagarh sizzled at 47°C.

Director of regional meteorological centre, Bhubaneswar, Sarat Chandra Sahu said the situation for the onset of monsoon was favourable according to the weather conditions over the Bay of Bengal.

The monsoon is likely to hit the state by the first week of June. "The magnitude of rainfall will increase from the first week. But, the heat wave condition is likely to persists till the end of this month," Sahu said.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the southwest monsoon would touch Kerala by May 30. The monsoon usually starts by June second week in the state.

The weathermen has predicted thunder squall in several parts of the state in next 24 hours. "Thunder squall accompanied with 50-60kmph gusty wind is likely at Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh, Deogarh, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Angul, Dhenkanal and Kalahandi," said a weather official.

The state government today confirmed the death of eight persons caused by sunstroke.

"Sixty-two people have died so far allegedly due to sunstroke. We have completed the enquiry in 22 cases, of which eight deaths were confirmed to be caused by sunstroke and 14 deaths were caused due to other reasons. Enquiry in rest of the cases is under way," said an official in the office of Special Relief Commissioner.

While Titilagarh was the hottest today, 14 places in the state recorded a maximum temperature of 40°C and above. Balangir was the second at 46.5°C. It was followed by Bhawanipatna that recorded a temperature of 45.2°C.

New energy minister Prafulla Mallik said: "The state is producing the required amount of energy. Short duration of power cuts is due to ongoing maintenance work at various places."