Level 4 warning issued for storms, damaging winds in Gauteng on Tuesday

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued an orange level 6 warning for disruptive rain which will lead to flooding in parts of the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.

According to the weather service, the affected areas include the Joe Gqabi District Municipality as well as Emalahleni, Sakhisizwe, Intsika Yethu and Engcobo Local Municipalities.

An orange level 4 warning has also been issued for storms with localised flooding and strong damaging winds over Gauteng, the extreme north-eastern parts of the North West and the western areas of the western Bushveld of Limpopo on Tuesday.

A yellow level 2 warning has been issued for storms with localised flooding and strong winds over the remainder of the western Limpopo, Mpumalanga Highveld, the north-eastern and south-eastern areas of Free State as well as the eastern areas of the North-West.

Rain favourable in days ahead

According to the weather service, a cut-off low, located in the mid to upper reaches of the atmosphere, currently lies over the western parts of southern Africa. This system is likely to significantly influence the circulation over the southern African subcontinent, especially in the next 48 hours.

“Widespread rain as well as embedded thunderstorms are occurring in a broad band of tropically sourced air, migrating southwards through Zambia and Botswana. Consequently, the prospects for rainfall over much of South Africa remain very favourable in the days ahead, especially over the eastern half of the country,” warned the weather service.

There is a moderate to high risk of localised flooding of a disruptive nature, especially over North-West, Gauteng, the Free State, as well as adjacent parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the north-eastern sector of the Northern Cape.

A cut-off upper air low pressure system continues to dominate the circulation pattern over southern
Africa, resulting in a broad band of rain, thunderstorms and associated cloud cover across most of the
central and eastern parts of southern Africa, said the weather service.

Much of the rainfall expected over North-West, Free State and Gauteng on Monday and extending into
Tuesday is expected to be fairly significant, with at least 30-60 mm per day indicated for the
aforementioned provinces.

The rainfall output from the Unified Model (UM) numeric weather prediction (NWP) scheme suggests quite widespread, significant rainfall persisting over numerous South African provinces today and tomorrow.

“However, especially for North-West, Gauteng and northern Free State, there is a greatly elevated risk (high confidence) of significant impacts in relation to localised flooding. The warning level for the last-mentioned area is therefore classified as level 6 Orange,” warned the weather service.

Tuesday’s weather forecast

Gauteng: Cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers, abating in the evening. The expected UVB sunburn index: Low.

Mpumalanga: Morning fog along the escarpment, otherwise cloudy and cool to warm with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Limpopo: Cloudy and cool to warm with scattered showers and thundershowers

North West: Cloudy becoming partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the eastern parts.

Free State: Cloudy becoming partly cloudy and cool to warm with scattered showers and thundershowers but widespread along the Lesotho border.

Northern Cape: Morning fog in places along the coast, otherwise cloudy to partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the extreme east. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate southerly to southeasterly becoming fresh by the afternoon.

Western Cape: Fine to partly cloudy and cool to warm becoming cloudy along the south coast and adjacent interior in the evening. Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected over the north-eastern parts from the afternoon. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-westerly to
westerly but southerly to south-easterly along the south coast. The expected UVB sunburn index: High

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Partly cloudy and cool with isolated showers and thundershowers in
the east. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and cool with scattered showers to thundershowers but
widespread in the east. The wind along the coast will be moderate south-westerly.

KwaZulu-Natal: Warm in places in the north, otherwise cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate north-easterly, becoming moderate to fresh south-westerly from the south in the afternoon, spreading to Mandeni towards evening. The expected UVB sunburn index: Moderate.

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