Gauteng residents warned to brace for severe thunderstorms with hail and flooding

Gauteng residents have been warned to brace for another severe thunderstorm on Thursday.

Regional weather forecaster Gauteng Weather shared the details of the adverse weather conditions on X.

“The SA Weather Service (Saws) has issued a warning for the possibility of severe thunderstorms on Thursday 16 November 2023 with rain probability of 50%. Potential threats include hail, strong winds, heavy rain and flooding.”

⚠️ ALERT: THE SA WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WARNING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS!!!

📆WHEN: THURSDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2023

⏰TIME: 13:00-23:59

📈RAIN PROBABILITY: 50%

📍AREA: ENTIRE GAUTENG

🔴POTENTIAL THREATS:
•HAIL
•STRONG WINDS
•HEAVY RAIN
•FLOODING

— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) November 16, 2023

Hail storm

On Monday, a hail storm battered parts of Gauteng causing extensive damage to homes, cars and infrastructure.

One person was injured in Soweto during the hail, while the body of an 18-year-old teen drowned after falling into the Klipvalley River during the adverse weather conditions

Joburg emergency services Robert Mulaudzi said they are on high alert.

“From our side as the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services, we remain on high alert throughout the day monitoring all seven regions of the city so that we can be able to respond to all emergencies which are reported through our emergency call centre.”

ALSO READ: WATCH: One injured after hailstorm pummels Joburg and other areas

Warnings

Saws also issued a yellow level 2 warning of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail expected over the Free State, extreme eastern parts of Northern Cape, central and western parts of the North West and southern KwaZulu-Natal.

A yellow level 1 warning was also issued for severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail expected over the northern and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.

More to come

Saws warned of more possible heavy weather in the coming months.

The predictions are not confined to extreme wet weather, with drier and warmer conditions expected till March.

“The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (Enso) is in an El Nino state and, according to the latest predictions, is expected to persist through most of the summer,” said the service’s Lehlohonolo Thobela.

“Enso’s typical impact on Southern Africa is [of] generally drier and warmer conditions from October to March.

“However, current global forecasts indicate a great deal of uncertainty for the typical drier conditions South Africa experiences during typical El Nino seasons, in particular over the eastern parts of the country,” said Thobela.

ALSO READ: Body of missing teen recovered from Kliptown river