News24 | Thursday’s weather: Thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and heavy rain in several provinces

Cold, thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and heavy rain are expected in some parts of the country.

Sarayut Thaneerat/Getty Images

Cold, severe thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and heavy rain are expected in parts of the Free State, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Northern Cape, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

Impact-based warnings

Yellow Level 4 warning: Damaging winds and waves leading to disruption of ports/harbours and danger to navigation at sea are expected between Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape until Friday.

Yellow Level 4 warning: Damaging winds leading to interruptions to power, communication and/or other utilities and services, damage to settlement, injuries and danger to life from flying debris, problems for high-sided vehicles on prone routes due to cross winds, are expected over the Namakwa district (Northern Cape), the Cape Winelands and the Central Karoo districts in the Western Cape until Friday.

Yellow Level 4 warning: Disruptive rainfall leading to flooding of roads and settlements and major disruption of traffic flow is expected over the eastern parts of the Overberg district, the Garden Route, Langeberg and Laingsburg municipalities of the Western Cape.

Yellow Level 2 warning: Disruptive rainfall leading to localised flooding of settlements, roads, low-lying areas and bridges is expected in places along the south coast and the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.

Yellow Level 2 warning: Severe thunderstorms leading to localised wind and hail damage to structures, falling trees and local fire incidents due to excessive lightning expected over the western parts of the Free State.

Yellow Level 2 warning: Damaging winds leading to damage to temporary structures, settlements, transport routes and travel services are expected over the western parts of the Western Cape from the afternoon into Friday, as well as over the northern interior of the Eastern Cape.

In the SAWS’s colour-coded weather warning system, yellow indicates a moderate risk of impact that requires caution and awareness, while orange indicates that a higher-risk impact is expected, requiring increased attention and preparation.

The SAWS uses the numbers to indicate the likelihood of weather-based impacts occurring. Levels 2 and 6 are high, level 5 is medium, and levels 4 and 8 are low.

Advisories

Cold to very cold, wet and windy conditions can be expected in places over the Namakwa district of the Northern Cape and the interior of the Western Cape on Friday.

The weather in your province

Gauteng: Fine and warm.

Pretoria: 11—27°C

Johannesburg: 9—26°C

Vereeniging: 11—26°C

Mpumalanga: Fine and warm but hot in places in the Lowveld.

Mbombela: 14—28°C

Ermelo: 9—26°C

Emalahleni: 10—26°C

Standerton: 7—27°C

Skukuza: 11—33°C

Limpopo: Fine and warm but hot in places in the Lowveld and Limpopo Valley.

Polokwane: 11—28°C

Phalaborwa: 14—32°C

Tzaneen: 11—28°C

Musina: 15—33°C

Lephalale: 11—32°C

Mokopane: 10—31°C

North West: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers except in the extreme east.

Klerksdorp: 10—28°C

Potchefstroom: 11—28°C

Mahikeng: 11—29°C

Rustenburg: 12—29°C

Vryburg: 12—30°C

Free State: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

Bloemfontein: 10—28°C

Welkom: 11—29°C

Bethlehem: 7—25°C

Northern Cape: Partly cloudy, windy and warm to hot with scattered showers and thundershowers in the west and extreme south but isolated in the eastern and southern parts. It will be cool to cold in the west.

The wind along the coast will be moderate north-westerly, becoming fresh to strong south-easterly from mid-afternoon.

Upington: 14—21°C

Kimberley: 15—29°C

De Aar: 15—22°C

Alexander Bay: 14—19°C

Springbok: 8—12°C

Calvinia: 5—14°C

Sutherland: 2—12°C

Western Cape: Cloudy, windy and cool to cold with scattered showers and rain but widespread along the south coast and adjacent interior. Near-gale force winds are possible along the south-west and west coastlines as well as over the Central Karoo from the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate easterly to north-easterly along the west and south-west coast in the morning, otherwise fresh to strong south-easterly reaching near gale force along the south-west and west coast from the afternoon.

Cape Town: 12—16°C

Vredendal: 10—19°C

Riversdale: 11—15°C

George: 12—15°C

Worcester: 8—17°C

Beaufort West: 12—17°C

Oudtshoorn: 10—15°C

Eastern Cape: Warm in places in the north, otherwise cloudy and cool with widespread showers and thundershowers, but scattered in the north.

The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong southerly, but south-easterly in the afternoon in the western half. In the eastern half, the wind will be moderate south-westerly, becoming fresh southerly in the afternoon.

Gqeberha: 13—18°C

Makhanda: 13—19°C

Nxuba (Adelaide): 10—25°C

Robert Sobukwe Town (Graaf-Reinet): 10—18°C

Ku Gompo City (East London): 17—22°C

Port St Johns: 16—29°C

Mthatha: 14—29°C

Komani: 12—26°C

Qonce: 14—21°C

KwaZulu-Natal: Cloudy with morning fog along the south coast and adjacent interior, otherwise fine and warm to hot but very hot in places in the east. It will become partly cloudy to cloudy in the south by the evening with isolated showers and thundershowers in the extreme south.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate northerly to north-easterly, reaching fresh in the north at times, becoming fresh to strong southerly to south-westerly south of Richards Bay by the evening.

Durban: 20—36°C

Richard’s Bay: 20—37°C

Pietermaritzburg: 16—35°C

Ladysmith: 15—32°C

*This weather report was written with the support of Toqan AI.