Weather warning: Heavy rain and chance of flooding expected Monday

There may be flooding when the central and eastern parts of South Africa experience widespread to scattered showers and thundershowers on Monday.

So forecasts the SA Weather Service, which issued a warning at a level higher than it has done in recent weeks (yellow level 4) for severe thunderstorms with a large amount of small hail, and heavy downpours leading to flooding of roads, settlements, low-lying areas and bridges over the central and southern parts of Mpumalanga.

It also issued a yellow level 2 warning for the same weather conditions over the KwaZulu-Natal, north-eastern parts of Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the east and central Free State as well as the extreme eastern parts of North West and the southern parts of Limpopo.

Damaging winds and risk of fires

The service also issued a yellow level 2 warning for disruptive rain leading to localised flooding of susceptible settlements, roads, low lying areas and bridges as well as localised disruption to municipal services are expected over the eastern half of the Eastern Cape; as well as a yellow level 3 warning for damaging winds leading to disruption to beachfront activities and difficulty in navigation at sea between Lambert’s Bay and Cape Agulhas – including the City of Cape Town – where risk of runaway fires is possible.

A yellow level 2 warning was issued for waves leading to small vessels, such as personal watercraft, taking on water in locality are expected between Cape Point and Port Nolloth.

Extremely high fire conditions are expected in places over the City of Cape Town and the Saldanha Bay municipalities of the Western Cape.

Monday’s weather forecast

Gauteng:

Cloudy and cool to warm with widespread showers and thundershowers.

The expected UVB sunburn index: Low

Mpumalanga:

Morning fog patches and drizzle along the escarpment, otherwise cloudy and cool to warm with widespread showers and thundershowers in the west, but isolated to scattered in the east.

Limpopo:

Morning fog patches and drizzle along the escarpment, otherwise cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered to widespread in the west.

North West Province:

Partly cloudy and warm to hot, with scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the east where it will be cloudy.

Free State:

Partly cloudy and warm, with scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the central and eastern parts, where it will be cloudy.

Northern Cape:

Fine in the west in the morning where it will be cool to warm, otherwise partly cloudy and hot to very hot, with isolated showers and thundershowers.

It will be windy in the southern parts in the evening. The wind along the coast will be strong southerly becoming near gale in the afternoon.

Western Cape:

Fine in the west where it will be hot in places, otherwise cloudy with and cool to warm with isolated showers and rain along the south coast and adjacent interior but scattered east of Riversdale.

The wind along the coast will be strong southerly to south-easterly reaching near gale to gale force along the west coast in the afternoon through to the evening.

It will be moderate to fresh easterly to southeasterly along the south coast. The expected UVB sunburn index: Extreme

Western half of the Eastern Cape:

Cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated over the north west.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly, becoming south-easterly in the afternoon.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape:

Cloudy and cool with widespread showers and thundershowers but scattered in the north-west.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-westerly, becoming moderate to fresh southerly south of Coffee Bay in the morning, spreading to Port St Johns by late evening.

KwaZulu-Natal:

Morning fog over the interior, otherwise cloudy and warm but cool in the south-west with widespread showers and thundershowers.

The wind along the coast will be moderate north-easterly in the extreme north, otherwise moderate southerly to south-westerly.

The expected UVB sunburn index: Low