Khordha: India Meteorological Department (IMD) Bhubaneswar Director Manorama Mohanty has said that light to moderate rainfall is expected over the state in the next five days.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, IMD Bhubaneswar Director Mohanty said, "In the last 24 hours, we realised a cold wave in 2 districts Jharsuguda and Angul. The lowest temperature was recorded in Sundargarh, 5.7 degrees Celcius. If we see the forecast for the next five days, light to moderate rainfall is likely over the state. During the next 24 hours, light rain is likely in the districts of Ganjam and Gajapati, that too at the isolated places."
"On the 18th, light rain is very likely to occur at the isolated places of Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Koraput," she added.
Regarding temperatures, Mohanty said, "If we see the temperature, night temperature means the minimum temperature is likely to rise by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius during the next three days."
Additionally, as per the IMD light to moderate rainfall at isolated places accompanied with isolated thunderstorms and lightning are likely to occur in Odisha on December 19 and 20.
Meanwhile, the people of Delhi continue to face poor air quality, as the air quality index (AQI) remained in the 'severe' category on Wednesday. A thin layer of fog also covered parts of the city, reducing visibility.
Additionally, the minimum temperature dropped to 5 degrees Celsius in the national capital on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the temperature was recorded at 7.4 degrees Celsius in Delhi at 2.30 am, as per the IMD.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI was measured as 442 at 7 am in the national capital on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Delhi's AQI was recorded at 421 at 7 AM.
AQI in several areas of the national capital was recorded as poor. 458 at ITO, 471 at Alipur, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 443, DTU 432, IGI Airport (T3) 418, RK Puram 464, DU North Campus 436, at 7 am on Wednesday.
However, some areas experienced slightly better air quality, with measurements falling into the 'very poor' category. For instance, Chandni Chowk recorded an AQI of 374, while Lodhi Road had an AQI of 348, Dilshad Garden was at 344, and NSIT Dwarka recorded 367.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is severe. (ANI)