Cyclone Asani loses steam; moderate rain brings heat relief in Coastal Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: Coastal Odisha on Wednesday got partial relief from heat and humidity as Cyclone Asani weakened and veered towards Andhra Pradesh, causing light to moderate rain across the state. The intensity of rain was much less than predicted and it was accompanied by light wind along the state’s coast.
IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, “Asani lost its steam because of the incursion of dry air from the Indian peninsula. Secondly, the cyclone moved too slowly in the sea. In the process, rain on the sea surface cooled down its temperature, thereby draining it of its strength. Faster movement would have meant swirling on a warmer sea surface and drawing in of more moisture, which would have added to its stregth. Once it hit the the coast, it lost its fury.”
The temperature in the coastal areas of the state plumetted by two to three degrees under the influence of Asani. “There will be no significant change in the maximum daytime temperature in the next two days. It may gradually rise by to 2 to 4 degrees Celsius after that,” IMD (Bhubaneswar) director H R Biswas said.
State capital Bhubaneswar saw a maximum daytime temperature of 33.4 degrees Celsius and a minimum temperature of 24.6 degrees Celsius. Intermittent rain may help keep the temperature in check for two days, Biswas said.
While Khurda and Keonjhar districts received the maximum rainfall, Bhubaneswar recorded 4cm rain on Tuesday night.