Level 2 warning issued for disruptive rain in KZN and Eastern Cape

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a watch for disruptive rain in the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and the escarpment and Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday.

According to the weather service, the disruptive rain will lead to flooding of roads, settlements and low-lying areas, traffic disruptions, as well as danger to livestock and livelihoods can be expected.

A trained scientist specialising in water resource management, Professor Anthony Turton, said South Africa was possibly seeing a seasonal shift towards a wetter than average period.

Turton said a high-confidence study in 2018, conducted by the University of Cape Town, looked at rainfall patterns from 1950 until 2012, and found that before 1982 South Africa had a wetter average period than after 1982.

“From 1982 onwards there had been a seasonal shift in rainfall,” he said.

Turton said the current shift would mean rain that would have fallen in spring and grown the mealies has shifted to another time of the year.

“So what use to be an early September rain, now becomes a December/January rainfall, which means it is too late for the mealies,” he said.

In the Northern Cape, extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the Khai-Ma municipality on Thursday.

Weather advisory for other provinces

Gauteng: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.

Mpumalanga: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered over the Highveld.

Limpopo: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

North West: Fine and warm to hot, becoming partly cloudy with afternoon showers and thundershowers.

Free State: Fine and warm to hot, becoming partly cloudy with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.

Northern Cape: Fine and warm to hot, but very hot in the north-east. The wind along the coast will be southerly to south-easterly moderate to fresh.

Western Cape: Partly cloudy in the morning, otherwise fine and warm, but hot in places over the West Coast and the Breede Valley. It will be cloudy along the south coast where it will be cool with light rain expected east of George during the afternoon.

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The wind along the coast will be light and variable along the south-west coast early morning, otherwise fresh to strong southerly, but moderate to fresh westerly to south-westerly along the south coast. It will become south-easterly south of Cape Columbine in the evening.

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers over the eastern parts and along the coast. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm but cool along the wild coast and adjacent interior. Scattered showers and thundershowers but widespread in the north-east can be expected. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly.

KwaZulu-Natal: Cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers. The wind along the coast will be moderate north-easterly north of Durban in the morning, otherwise moderate to fresh south-westerly.

Additional reporting by Marizka Coetzer