Weather warning issued for severe thunderstorms
Strong to damaging winds, large amounts of small hail, and heavy downpours leading to localised flooding can be expected.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a yellow level 2 weather warning for severe thunderstorms expected over parts of the central and eastern interior today, October 25.
This is expected to affect the central and eastern parts of the North West, the central and eastern parts of the Free State, Gauteng, the highveld areas of Mpumalanga and the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
⚠️Yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms expected over parts of the central and eastern interior today (25 October 2021) which may produce heavy downpours, hail and strong to damaging winds. Storms are expected to develop over NW and FS spreading east from late afternoon pic.twitter.com/LUIl7oLdFX
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) October 25, 2021
Strong to damaging winds, large amounts of small hail and heavy downpours leading to localised flooding can be expected, with storms expected to develop over North West and Freestate spreading east from late afternoon.
⚠️ ALERT: THE SA WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WARNING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS!!!
📆WHEN: MONDAY, 25 OCT 2021
⏰TIME: 13:00-23:59
📍AREA: ENTIRE GAUTENG
🔴POSSIBLE THREATS:
•LARGE AMOUNTS OF SMALL HAIL
•STRONG/DAMAGING WINDS
•HEAVY RAIN
•FLOODING— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) October 25, 2021
Arrive Alive gives the following tips for driving in heavy rain:
• Increase the three-second following rule to five to six seconds to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you.
• If it is raining and the roads are wet, slow down. Take your foot off the accelerator and let your speed drop gradually.
• Never use the brakes suddenly because this may cause the car to skid.
• If you find that an oncoming vehicle is overtaking from the opposite direction and will not be likely to do it safely, slow down and be prepared to move to the left shoulder if necessary.
• Only move towards the shoulder if you are able to see clearly 150m ahead of you. Keep in mind that pedestrians may be walking on the shoulder to avoid the mud next to the surface of the road.
• Beware of oil patches. Don’t panic. Do not jam on your brakes, just steer through. In most cases, the patches will be small.
• Always change to a lower gear before you take a bend, especially a sharp bend. Your speed should be at its slowest as you enter the bend and both your hands should be on the steering wheel. This slow in/ fast out technique gives you most control when driving around a bend.
• Turn on your headlights.
• Be careful of other vehicles to the rear and in blind spot areas as they are especially difficult to see through rain-spattered windows.
• Use your low-beam headlights to see and be seen. Wait a short time after the rain begins before using your windshield wipers because the blades may smear.
• Be extra careful during the first half hour after rain begins. Grime and oil on the road surface mix with water to make the road slippery.
