Mercury plummets to record low

BHUBANESWAR: Mercury plummeted as the Capital recorded the coldest night of the season on Sunday when the minimum temperature fell to 9.3 degree Celsius. It was also the coldest January night since 2003. With the cold wave showing no signs of a let up, large parts of the City felt the pinch of the winter. Kandhamal was on a freezing point with sub-zero temperature recorded from many areas.Moderate to severe cold wave conditions continue to prevail over most parts of interior Odisha and cold wave conditions continues to prevail over isolated parts of the rest of Odisha. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded the minimum temperature at 2 degree C at G Udayagiri whereas at Phulbani, the mercury read 3.2 degree C.Minimum temperatures changed little and were markedly below normal over the State. Apart from Puri which recorded 12.4 degree C, minimum temperature in most coastal towns hovered around 10 degree C. In northern Odisha, the night temperature was in the range of 5 degree to 6 degree C while Titilagarh recorded 4.6 degree C. Most of the western pockets shivered with an average 8 degree C in the night.The weather office said there will be little relief in the next 24 hours. Severe cold wave conditions will prevail over some parts of interior Odisha, it said. Rest of the State will experience moderate cold conditions. Bhubaneswar, the Met office said, will continue to feel the pinch of the winter.