Gauteng storm may have been a tornado, says meteorologist

Residents in Gauteng were still picking up the pieces left from the destruction of Monday’s storm yesterday when a bigger storm warning followed shortly after.

Damage

The severe thunderstorm that swept through Gauteng earlier this week left trees uprooted, brick walls damaged and saw dustbins floating down the flooded streets of Johannesburg while many roads were left closed.

Other damages recorded included sections of roofs collapsing and piles of hail as deep as 30 centimetres.

Imperial Wanderers Cricket Stadium Head Groundsman Evan Flint said they had cleaned up the stadium by lunchtime.

The storm left the cricket station under a blanket of white from the heavy downpour of rain and hail.

“We have a big sweeping machine which helped sweep up the branches. There was no damage to the field or pitch that fortunately had covers on,” he said.

Flint said the hail did damage the flowerbeds, awnings, and retaining walls fell over.

‘Unreal’

“It was unreal. The hail was ankle-deep,” he said.

Sonja Shear from the Wanderers Sports club said they were still cleaning up after the severe storm.

“Our cricket ovals looked like it was covered by snow. There was a lot of damage to our gardens and windows were broken on the property,” she said.

Fear and tears

El Dina Alblas from Wentworth Park said by lunchtime the hail that fell the previous day still lay in heaps in her garden.

“I was at home when the storm hit. It was rough. I was so scared that I broke out in tears. I cried like a baby because I expected the worse,” she said.

Alblas said because the hail blocked the drains the water started flooding the garden and rose to the level of the house.

“The water in the yard was knee-high. The hail looked like snow that covered the grass,” she said.

Alblas said they were grateful their unit didn’t have damage.

“In our estate, other units were left flooded and brick walls were damaged and knocked over,” she said.

Local storm chaser Cobus van Zyl said Monday’s storm was one of the most hectic storms he has observed.

Intense storms

“I noticed a shelf cloud system in the morning and then followed the separate intense storms. A shelf cloud system indicated a weather front. It indicates cold air pushing away the warm air,” he said.

Van Zyl also noticed Mammatus clouds which usually indicated an intense storm cell nearby.

He said a fellow storm chaser argued the Monday storm was supercells and not normal storm cells.

Vox Meteorologist Annette Botha said the high instability values over the Highveld on 5 December meant a tornado was possible.

Botha said it was her professional opinion and added the South African Weather Service will do an investigation into the matter and confirm whether this was indeed a tornado/land spout or funnel cloud.

Rope tornado

“According to the footage and recent review of satellite images this could likely have been a rope tornado that formed since it developed underneath a severe cumuliform cloud, and possibly made contact with the ground,” she said.

Botha explained a rope tornado was the most common kind of tornado that tend to be among the smallest types of tornadoes.

“This type of tornado is shaped a bit like a long rope, hence its name. Remember the biggest difference between a tornado and a land spout is: A supercell tornado always forms from the top down as a funnel cloud that goes down to the ground and a land spout always forms from the ground up to the thunderstorm when there is converging air,” she explained.

NOW READ: WATCH: Johannesburg battered by hailstorms

Level 6 orange warning

South African Weather Service forecaster Nuthando Masimini explained the level 6 orange warning issued yesterday afternoon indicated the intensity of the impact of the storm.

“This level meant it has more than likelihood significant impact,” he explained.

Masimini said after the level 6 orange storm passed, the extreme weather would calm going into the weekend but remain wet.

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– marizkac@citizen.co.za