Odisha braces for heavy rain as depression nears coastline

Bhubaneswar, July 19: The low-pressure area that had formed over the north-west and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Friday, affecting the area off the south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coasts. According to the SOA Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC), the system was centered approximately 130 km east of Gopalpur.

The depression is expected to move northwest and make landfall near Puri on Saturday morning. The CEC bulletin indicated that the system will bring continuous rain, with occasional heavy downpours, to coastal, southern, and western parts of the state until late Friday evening. The rainfall is influenced by alternating periods of sunshine and cloudy skies.

As the depression continues its northwestern trajectory, it will lead to heavy to very heavy rainfall across coastal, northern, and western regions of the state from Friday night through Saturday evening. The bulletin also noted that western Odisha could experience significant rainfall through Tuesday.

Looking ahead, moderate to heavy precipitation is anticipated in northern and western Odisha from Tuesday, affecting the catchment areas of major rivers such as the upper Mahanadi, Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga, and Subarnarekha. This is expected to result from a cyclonic circulation over north Odisha and Jharkhand, which will persist until the following Friday.