Bhubaneswar: Cold wave situation continued to grip across the State as mercury fell down below 12 degrees Celsius at 12 places during last night.
According to the morning beltline of Bhubaneswar Met Centre, the lowest minimum temperature of 7 degrees Celsius was recorded at Phulbani town while Daringbadi and Koraput recorded a minimum temperature of 7.5 degrees Celsius each.
Similarly, the minimum temperature at Sundergarh was 9.5 degrees and it was 9.8 degrees at Titlagarh, 10 degrees at Bhawanipatna, 10.5 degrees at Sonepur. Keonjhar, Bolangir and Angul towns recorded a minimum temperature of 11 degrees each.
The night temperature at Malkangiri and Chandbali was 11.5 and 11.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, the Met Centre said. All places of the State witnessed a minimum temperature of below 20 degrees Celsius.
The Met office further said the minimum temperature will be below normal by 3-4 degrees Celsius over the districts of Odisha during next 4-5 days. Due to the sudden chill, normal life was affected in interior pockets of the State.
The cold wave condition prevailing in several parts of Odisha is expected to aggravate further and continue for a week, said director of Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) of SOA University, SC Sahu,
The cold wave conditions will aggravate further between December 19 and 24 due to a combination of the north-westerly wind flow in the lower and upper atmosphere along with clear sky conditions for radiational cooling from the surface of the earth, he said.
The cold condition might decrease slightly due to change in wind direction and western disturbance in the north-west part of India from the Christmas day, he added.