Bhubaneswar, Aug 18: A low-pressure area has formed over the northeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, the regional centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bhubaneswar informed on Thursday.

It is likely to intensify further into a well-marked low pressure area during the next 12 hours and concentrate into a depression during the next 24 hours.

Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in interior and coastal Odisha on August 19 and in western Odisha on August 20.

The weather center has issued an orange warning for 17 districts for heavy to very heavy rainfall today.

The alert has sounded for Dhenkanal, Sundergarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Angul, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack While yellow warning has been sounded for Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sonepur, and Kalahandi.