Bhubaneswar: The meteorological centre has observed an unusual change in the weather pattern and issued a warning of dense fog for the state's coastal belt over the next five days.

Tuesday's weather bulletin issued by the centre predicted moderate to dense fog in the coastal areas that would reduce the surface visibility to 200 meters.

The Met centre has also put the railways and the airport authority on alert for this purpose.

"Day temperature is showing a rising trend but moisture-laden wind continue to flowed into the state from the northern parts of the country. The moisture is remaining in the air, which is resulting in the creation of fog," said Met director Sarat Chandra Sahu.

He said the fog would continue to occur early in the morning but disappear after the sun comes out and the temperature rises.

"We have intimated the railways and the airport authorities to remain cautious during early morning hours," said Sahu.The day temperature, on the other hand, continue to show a rising trend across the state.

The meteorological department has observed that the average maximum temperature is 3 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal at most places. Malkangiri recorded a highest of 35.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

The minimum temperature continues to fluctuate and remains different in different belts of the state. While the minimum temperature in the coastal pockets remained between 17 and 18 degrees Celsius, the same in the western belt hovered around the 15 degrees Celsius mark.

A minimum of 10.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in Phulbani on Tuesday.

"It is very unusual indeed. I remember such dense fog during the peak of winter in December. We have crossed the middle of February and we are still witnessing fog.

On the other hand, the day temperature is rising," said Sumitra Nanda, a resident of Rasulgarh.