Bhubaneswar, Dec 23 (IANS): An intense cold wave condition continued to prevail across Odisha in the past 24 hours with the mercury plummeting to 10 degrees Celsius at 12 places, the IMD said on Thursday.

Minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius was recorded at Phulbani town, making it the coldest place in the state, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD)'s Bhubaneswar regional centre.

Phulbani was followed by Daringbadi with 6.5 degrees Celsius, Jharsuguda (7.1), Titilagarh (7.3), Sundargarh (7.5), Keonjhar (7.6), Bhawanipatna (8), Rayagada (8), Bolangir (9), Sambalpur (9.5), Koraput (9.5) and Boudh (9.6).

Odisha's capital city Bhubaneswar, Angul and Nayagarh have recorded a minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius each.

Bhubaneswar has recorded a minimum temperature of 10 degrees or below in the month of December, for the fourth time in the past 11 years (2011 to 2021). The city had witnessed 8.2 degrees, 9.8 degrees and 10 degrees on December 30, 2018 (all time record), December 31, 2019 and December 21, 2021, respectively, the Met centre officials said.

Cold wave condition is very likely to prevail over the districts of Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Bargarh, Bolangir and Nuapada in the next 24 hours, it said.

The weather forecasting office has advised people to stay indoors during night & early morning and use multiple clothes to avoid exposure to cold. It also suggested people to avoid movement during night especially on two wheelers/open vehicles.