Weather service warns that heavy rain and thunderstorms will hit SA from Sunday

The South African Weather Service (Saws) has warned that heavy rain is expected in parts of South Africa from Sunday to Wednesday.

Storm warnings for next few days

It cautioned South Africans to be careful, especially those returning to work next week.

“Scattered and widespread showers and thundershowers are expected on Sunday across the central and eastern regions of South Africa… These regions include North West, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the southern parts of Mpumalanga and Gauteng,” it said.

Saws said the rainfall amounts could range from 50mm to 70 mm, adding that road flooding, slippery surfaces, and broad flash flooding are possible.

“It is inevitable that some low-water bridges could overflow, with powerful water currents that could sweep away vehicles and lead to loss of lives and property. It is strongly advised that motorists do not enter flooded low-water bridges or roads.”

It added that although summer thundershowers usually take place in the afternoon and evening, the storms from Sunday are expected to hit throughout the day.

The weather service said the summer rainfall areas of South Africa were hit hard by heavy rainfall throughout December, resulting in flooding and localised structural and infrastructural damage.

Provincial weather forecast for Saturday

Here’s what to expect in your province on Saturday, 4 January:

Gauteng:

Cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Mpumalanga:

Morning fog in places along the northern escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm, but hot to very hot in the Lowveld with scattered showers and thundershowers over the Highveld, otherwise isolated.

Limpopo:

Cloudy in the south-west, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot, but very hot in the Lowveld, with scattered afternoon showers and thundershowers in the southeast.

North West:

Cloudy and warm to hot, with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Free State:

Cloudy and warm to hot with scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated in the extreme east where it will be partly cloudy.

Northern Cape:

Cool along the coast with morning fog, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers to scattered showers and thundershowers, except in the extreme west, but widespread in the north-east where it will be cloudy.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly.

Western Cape:

Fine in the north-west, otherwise partly cloudy and hot to very hot with isolated showers and rain along the south-west coast. Morning fog can be expected along the coast. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh westerly to south-westerly becoming strong along the south-west coast.

Western half of Eastern Cape:

Cloudy with fog in places in the south-east at first, otherwise partly cloudy and hot to very hot but extremely hot over the northern parts. Isolated thundershowers are expected over the northern and eastern parts, but scattered in the north-east.

Eastern half of Eastern Cape:

Fog south of the escarpment at first, otherwise cloudy and very hot to extremely hot, but warm along the coast. Scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers are expected.

KwaZulu-Natal:

Morning fog in the north, otherwise fine and hot to very hot. It will become partly cloudy in the afternoon with scattered showers and thundershowers in the southwest, otherwise isolated except in the north-east. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh north-easterly, becoming southerly to south-westerly in the south from late morning, spreading to Mandeni by the end of the period.

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