Bhubaneswar: Odisha is likely to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall in several districts on Thursday as a depression has formed over coastal West Bengal.

According to the latest weather update, the well-marked low-pressure area over coastal West Bengal and adjoining areas of Bangladesh and the northwest Bay of Bengal moved northwestwards and intensified into a depression.

The depression is very likely to move nearly northwestwards across Gangetic West Bengal and Jharkhand during the next 24 hours.

The weather system has prompted warnings for several districts of Odisha, with the India Meteorological Department issuing a red warning for Sundargarh and Keonjhar.

Red warning

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at a few places, with extremely heavy rainfall at one or two places, in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts.

Orange warning

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at a few places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal and Mayurbhanj.

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph are also likely at one or two places in these districts.

Yellow warning

Heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places in Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Subarnapur, Boudh, Balangir, Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh.

Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph are also likely at one or two places in these districts.

The weather conditions may lead to waterlogging, disruption of normal traffic and localised flooding in vulnerable areas, particularly in districts expected to receive very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall.