Light rain across state brings down mercury

Bhubaneswar: The sky remained overcast in many parts of the state while light rain and thunderstorm lashed some areas on Wednesday, bringing down the mercury level.
The IMD said similar weather conditions may prevail on Thursday. There could be a possibility of thunderstorm and lightning at some places spread over 17 districts. Besides, gusty surface wind speed may touch 40 to 50 km per hour.
The districts likely to experience thunderstorm include Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Boudh, Angul, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar.
Thereafter, thunderstorm intensity would increase but there could be rain in some parts of the state for next three days due to the western disturbance.
H R Biswas, scientist and regional head of the IMD centre in the city, said overcast sky and light rain influenced drop in day temperature, mostly in some of the coastal areas. Biswas said rain or thunderstorm activities were experienced at isolated places in four-five districts.
However, the state government has asked district collectors to stay on alert. The office of the special relief commissioner, in his advisory, advised district collectors to submit detail damage report if any, in case of thunderstorm or strong winds.