Odisha continued to reel under intense heat wave conditions with the maximum temperature of 44.6 degrees Celsius recorded at Baripada town in Mayurbhanj on Sunday.
According to a bulletin of IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre, nine places in the state recorded a maximum temperature of 43 deg Celsius or above during the day.
With 44 degrees Celsius, Nuapada town in western Odisha was the second hottest place in the state.
The temperature was 43.8 degrees Celsius at Talcher, followed by Jharsuguda (43.6), Keonjhar (43.6), Angul (43.3), Bolangir (43.2), Sundergarh (43) and Boudh (43). Apart from the above places, 21 other places registered a day temperature of 40 deg C or above.
The temperature was 41.6 deg Celsius at both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities.
The IMD centre has issued heatwave Orange Warning (be prepared) for Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Boudh, Nuapada, Sundargarh, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Sonepur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Angul, Khurda, and Cuttack districts for April 22.
Hot and humid weather would prevail in some places of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati during the day, it said.
Besides, thunderstorm and rainfall are expected to occur in the districts of Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Sonepur, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Keonjhar, and Mayurbhanj.Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Sunday announced summer vacation for school students from April 25 in view of the prevailing intense heatwave conditions in the state.
In a statement, the State government said all schools, including those run by government, government-aided and private, will remain closed from April 25.
The government has also announced morning classes from 6.30 am to 10.30 am in schools for three days from April 22 to April 24.
Earlier, the state had ordered the closure of all schools in the state for three days from April 18 to 20 after a severe heatwave situation during which the temperature rose to above 45 deg C, in the state.