Mercury falls below 10C at some places

Bhubaneswar: Several places in interior parts of the state on Sunday saw temperature plummet below 10 degree celsius. The hill station of G Udayagiri in Kandhamal district was coldest at 7°C, the day’s lowest in the state. Kirei in Sundargarh district followed with 8 degree celsius.
Jharsuguda at 9.1°C saw a 3 degree celsius drop compared to the normal. The state capital recorded a temperature of 13.6°C while Cuttack was 13.4°.
The IMD forecast said there would no large change in prevailing trend of night temperature for the next four-five days.There could be moderate to shallow fog at isolated places in the districts of Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput and Malkangiri.
Umashankar Das, scientist and regional head of IMD centre in the city, said continuation of northerly or north-westerly wind flow has influenced the slide in mercury level across the state.
The north and southern parts of Odisha saw major fall compared to the previous day, he pointed out.
Drop in mercury level to below 10°C or close to it at select places in interior pockets affected lives in those areas. The IMD report said shallow to moderate fog was witnessed in Phulbani, Bhawanipatna and Angul as well.