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Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail to persist in coming days
Saturated grounds in parts of the country and full streams could trigger flash floods easily.
A motorist’s vehicle partially submerged car in Soweto, 9 December 2022, after it was swept away by flash floods on Friday morning, after heavy rains overnight. Persistent rain affected various parts of Johannesburg. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Severe thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain and lightning are expected to persist in the coming days in most parts of the country, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned.
“Most of the country can expect rains over the coming days, with the risk of flash flooding in some places,” the weather service warned on Friday.
This as the central and eastern parts of the country are still picking up the pieces from the damage caused by flooding.
According to the weather service, the ground in many of these places remains saturated, and rivers and streams are running full, which is a recipe for disaster as flash floods could be triggered quite easily.
“The latest severe weather event will be due to a cut off low (COL) pressure system, developing west of the country, and is expected to intensify from Saturday (10 December 2022) as it moves
closer.”
In the next five days, the country can expect severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, hail and lightning, starting from the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, spreading to the Free State on Sunday, and reaching Free State, North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga by Monday.
The south-western coastal areas of the country are expected to experience strong south-easterly winds of between 50 to 70 km/h. Ordinarily south-easterly winds around the Cape Peninsula are associated with fair weather.
“However, with the presence of a cut-off low, there may be some thundershowers on Saturday and Sunday, leading to a phenomenon referred to as the ‘black-south-easter’,” said the weather service.
Saturday’s weather forecast
Gauteng: Cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated in the north. The expected UVB sunburn index: Extreme.
Mpumalanga: Cloudy in the north-east, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the Highveld.
Limpopo: Cloudy in the east with morning drizzle along the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers but fine in the extreme west.
North West: Partly cloudy and warm, with isolated showers and thundershowers, but scattered in the south.
Free State: Morning fog patches in the east, otherwise partly cloudy and warm, with widespread showers and thundershowers in the west, otherwise scattered.
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Northern Cape: Morning fog along the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot, with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread over the central and southern parts.
It will be cloudy in the south-east. The wind along the coast will be moderate north-westerly becoming south-westerly by the afternoon.
Western Cape: Cloudy in the extreme east, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot with scattered showers and thundershowers but widespread in places in the north.
The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh westerly along the south coast at first, otherwise fresh to strong south-easterly, but gale force along the south-west coast from the afternoon. The expected UVB sunburn index: Very High.
Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm to hot with scattered showers and thundershowers in the north, otherwise isolated. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southwesterly.
Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm to hot with scattered showers and thundershowers in the north, otherwise isolated. The wind along the coast will be moderate south-westerly.
KwaZulu-Natal: Partly cloudy and warm, but hot in places in the north. It will become cloudy in the afternoon with widespread showers and thundershowers in the south-west, otherwise scattered, but isolated in the north-east.
ALSO READ: Hail and storm damage cause widespread electricity outages in Joburg
The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh easterly to north-easterly, becoming southerly to south-easterly in the extreme south from late morning spreading to Ballito by evening. The expected UVB sunburn index: Low.
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