BHUBANESWAR, June 13 -- The monsoon reached Odisha from the wrong direction. When the rains arrived on Friday, they came not through the southern tribal districts of Malkangiri and Koraput, where the season traditionally announces itself, but through the northern coast at Paradip and Baripada, driven by a Bay of Bengal branch that has been racing westward at a pace forecasters did not expect. The India Meteorological Department confirmed the advance and immediately placed 18 districts under an orange warning for heavy rain, thunderstorms, and wind gusts reaching 70 kilometres per hour.

The northern limit of the monsoon now passes through Paradip and Baripada, covering the coastal strip from Balasore through Bhadrak, Kendrapara, and Jagat...