An orange alert has been issued for Odisha’s Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts after the India Meteorological Department forecast very heavy rainfall beginning August 29.
The alert follows the formation of a fresh low-pressure system, with a yellow warning also covering 19 other districts across the state as isolated pockets brace for very heavy rain.
The IMD expects the heaviest rainfall between August 29 and September 1, with active weather over Odisha likely to persist through September 2.
The department has warned of a high risk of waterlogging, localised flooding and travel disruption in the districts placed under the orange alert.
Odisha has been hit by successive rounds of heavy rain this monsoon season as low-pressure systems have repeatedly formed over the Bay of Bengal and moved into the state.
The IMD has also issued heavy rain warnings for Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gangetic West Bengal, east Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim through the day.
Northeastern states including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are also under alert for heavy rainfall at isolated locations, with warnings for Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura extending across multiple days ahead.
Uttarakhand has been placed under a heavy rain warning with thunderstorms and lightning, and the IMD has forecast very heavy rainfall in the hill state between August 31 and September 1.
In contrast, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra have no subdivision-level severe weather warnings for the day, with Delhi expected to see a maximum temperature of around 36 degrees Celsius and a minimum near 26 degrees Celsius.
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been placed under a thunderstorm and lightning warning as the wider weather system continues to move across the country.
The active rain spell over Odisha is expected to continue through September 2, with the heaviest rainfall in the state forecast between August 29 and September 1.
Photo by McKay Savage, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (representative monsoon rain image)
