An orange alert has been issued for Uttarakhand till July 18 and for Himachal Pradesh till July 17.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that rainfall in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh will be heavy to extremely heavy for the next four days and decrease thereafter. Orange alerts have been issued for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand through July 18, respectively.
The weather department has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for rains in the national capital, which is facing unprecedented flooding due to the Yamuna in the city breaching its banks following days of heavy rains in the upper catchment areas.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), however, predicted moderate rain in the city over the next two days and “heavy to very heavy” rainfall over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
IMD said that the highest 118.4 mm rainfall was recorded at Jharsuguda followed by 68.2 mm at Chandbali, 35.2 mm in Bhubaneswar, 13.5 mm in Balasore, 6 mm in Paradip, 7.2 mm in Puri and 10.6 mm at Sambalpur between 8.30 am to 11.30 am.
Similarly, the IMD record said that intense rainfall activities were observed in many areas before 8.30 am, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack recorded 14.7 mm and 41.8 mm of rainfall respectively by 8.30 am, it said.
The IMD also warned that moderate to intense rainfall was in the store for the state capital Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It cautioned on temporary traffic congestion, slippery road and water-logging in low-lying areas.
The IMD also said that several Odisha districts are likely to experience enhanced rainfall activities in the next four to five days.
The weather office said that the state recorded an average rainfall of 10.3 mm during the last 24 hours. Similarly, the average rainfall recorded from July 1 to July 15 was 98.1 mm against the July monthly average of 339.9 mm.
The met office also said that a cyclonic circulation is likely to form over the northwest Bay of Bengal around Sunday. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the same region during the subsequent two to three days.
(with inputs from PTI)
