Bhubaneswar: Several districts of Odisha are likely to experience thunderstorms accompanied by lightning over the next three days, the Regional Meteorological Centre said on Saturday.

According to the weather office in Bhubaneswar, thunderstorms with lightning and gusty surface winds reaching speeds of 30–40 kmph are likely to occur at isolated places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Boudh, Kandhamal, Bargarh and Sonepur districts. A yellow warning has been issued for these districts.

However, the centre has issued an orange warning for Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Sundargarh districts for the period from 8:30 a.m. on March 8 to 8:30 a.m. on March 9, indicating the likelihood of more intense weather activity.

The centre further forecast thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 30–40 kmph at isolated places in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak districts during the period from 8:30 a.m. on March 9 to 8:30 a.m. on March 10.

Meteorologists said an upper air cyclonic circulation persists over Odisha and its neighbourhood, extending up to 1.5 km above mean sea level, which is influencing the weather conditions in the region.

Additionally, a trough extends from the cyclonic circulation over Odisha to northwest Uttar Pradesh across north Chhattisgarh and northeast Madhya Pradesh at about 0.9 km above mean sea level.

Another trough also extends from the same cyclonic circulation to coastal Karnataka across Telangana and the interior parts of Karnataka at 0.9 km above mean sea level, the centre added.