Warning for heavy downpours in Gauteng and other parts of SA on Tuesday

The heavy downpours that have been experienced over most parts of the country since Monday morning are expected to continue throughout Tuesday, the South African Weather Services warned.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, forecaster Wayne Venter said a warning for heavy rainfall that could lead to localised flooding has already been issued.

“We are still giving it an 80% chance of on and off showers for the entire day over Gauteng and other parts of the country.

“Daytime temperatures are also expected to remain in the cool category with Pretoria peaking at highs of only 20 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius for both Johannesburg and Vereeniging,” Venter said.

Other provinces where heavy downpours are on the cards for Tuesday include the northeastern parts of the Free State, the entire KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo as well as the Eastern Cape, while dry weather will persist in the Western Cape.

In the southern parts of Gauteng, which includes areas such as Vereeniging and Vanderbeijlpark, the rain poured unabated throughout Monday night, taking a slight break in the early hours of Tuesday, but it then started again from about 4am, and by 8.30am it was still coming down.

Traffic was also badly affected on Tuesday morning, as there were reports of a number of accidents and in some places, trees had fallen on to roads.

Meanwhile the heavy downpours has been welcoming, as it has seen 54mm of rainfall received in the Vaal dam catchment area over the past 24 hours alone.

Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said a number of accidents were reported on Tuesday morning due to wet and slippery roads.

He called on motorists to avoid roads such as Witkoppen, Douglas road, and Roosevelt on Tuesday, as they were flooded.

– stevent@citizen.co.za