Eastern SA predicted to experience widespread rainfall and ...

South Africa’s eastern provinces are likely to experience a significant improvement in rainfall from 18-24 December, with tropical moisture and favourable conditions expected to bring more rainfall to the area. This comes after large parts of the interior experienced heatwaves during recent months and a particularly intense two-week heatwave during the first half of December.

This is according to a media release from the South African Weather Service (Saws) on Tuesday.

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Saws predicted that eastern South Africa will experience between 70-150mm of accumulated rainfall during the next week in parts of Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern Free State, eastern parts of North West and the western and southern areas of Limpopo.

Temperatures in the eastern parts of the country are expected to cool down and provide some relief from the extreme heat brought about by the recent heatwave, according to Saws.

The rainfall is a result of the tropical moisture that is moving inland from South Africa’s tropical regions, Saws meteorologist Samkelisiwe Thwala told Daily Maverick.

“This substantial rainfall increase is likely to elevate the risk of flooding,” said Saws.

It urged the public to stay informed and updated “by following short-term weather forecasts and any warnings issued by the [SA Weather Service].”

Saws also issued a Level 4 warning due to the rainfall predictions for Gauteng, the central and western parts of Limpopo, the Highveld and escarpment of Mpumalanga, the eastern part of the Free State and most parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

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The recent heatwave resulted in several new temperature records across South Africa, said Saws.

“In addition to the extreme heat, the central and eastern interior of the country has seen significantly less rainfall this season, contributing to drought-like conditions and low catchment water levels.”

Although the eastern provinces are expected to experience increased rainfall during the next week, the “dry trend is expected to continue over the central interior for the next week, with only isolated thunderstorms possible”, said Saws.

Saws’ weather outlook for Thursday, 19 December, is isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers are possible in the central and eastern areas of the country and are expected to be widespread over KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

“The expected thunderstorms may result in heavy downpours that may lead to localised flooding, a possibility of damaging winds as well as hail in places over Gauteng, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga as well as the southern parts of Limpopo.”

Parts of Mpumalanga and the western Bushveld of Limpopo were expected to experience between 60-70mm of rain on Thursday, with heavy downpours, said Thwala.

On Friday, “Isolated showers and thundershowers are possible over the northeastern areas of the country, but scattered over Gauteng, Mpumalanga as well as the eastern parts of North West, with light rain expected along the south coast,” according to Saws.

(Graphic: SA Weather Service)

Updated information is available on the Saws website. DM