Bhubaneswar, July 22: Widespread rains are expected under the influence of a low-pressure area that formed on Thursday over northwest Bay of Bengal along the Odisha coast, according to the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC), Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA).

The system may lie over the Odisha coast on Friday and subsequently move in a northern direction towards Bihar on Saturday afternoon, a CEC bulletin said.

Under its influence, moderate rainfall may be experienced over most places over Odisha with the probability of heavy rainfall in the districts of Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Angul, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Sonepur, Boudh, Balangir, Nuapada and Rayagada on the night of July 22 and July 23, it said.

There was also a probability of formation of another low-pressure area over Bangladesh and adjoining north Bay of Bengal on July 28 which could move in a north-westerly direction through West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. Its influence was likely to continue till August 1, the bulletin said.

This could trigger moderate to heavy rainfall in Odisha’s districts of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Angul and Jajpur between July 28 afternoon and July 30, it said.