NOT FAR AWAY

Bhubaneswar, June 9: The people of Odisha, who had been reeling from scorching heat for the last one week, will have to wait for another week for a respite from the heat wave as weathermen here predict the arrival of the much-awaited southwest monsoon by next week. For over a week now, the mercury had been hovering much above the 40° Celsius mark in Odisha.

Various places of Odisha, including Bhubaneswar, this year recorded the highest summer temperatures in many years. This year, the Odisha capital had recorded a temperature of 46.7°C on June 5, beating the previous record of highest temperature of 46.5°C on May 22, 1972.

Extreme dry temperature, along with absence of moisture in the atmosphere, had resulted in non-formation of clouds. However, the formation of clouds in the last two days has raised the chances of a pre-monsoon rainfall in Odisha.

“The temperature has already dipped by 3 to 4 degrees in various places of Odisha. The wind speed has also increased. It is likely that the monsoon will reach Odisha by the second week of June,” said director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Sarat Chandra Sahu.

Rainfall brought respite from the heat at various places in Odisha yesterday. While Rayagada received a rainfall of 26mm, Nayagarh received a rainfall of 17.2mm. Places such as Bhograi, Jeypore and Parlakhemundi received more than 10mm rainfall yesterday. Thunderstorms were also reported from various places of Odisha yesterday.

The regional Met office has also forecast formation of a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal in the beginning of next week, which has also triggered the chances of rain and further bringing down the temperature.

However, Bhubaneswar, which has remained the hottest city in Odisha for the last three days, has so far received meagre rainfall. The city had received a rainfall of 5.9mm on June 3 and 0.7mm on June 4. A Met official said that thunderstorms could also occur in the state capital in the next 24 hours.

“Though the temperature has come down, the humidity level has gone up in the last two days. It has become very difficult to sleep at night for the raising humidity. Only rain can relieve us from this,” said Nirakar Sahoo, a resident of Damana.

The Met office revealed that Bhubaneswar had received a rainfall of 243.9mm in June 2011, and 228.1mm in June 2010.