News24 | Thursday’s weather: Risk of floods as thunderstorms, heavy rain hit four provinces

Severe thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours are expected in at least four provinces.

Jaco Marais/Die Burger/Gallo Images

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of severe thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours, which may lead to flooding in parts of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Free State.

Strong winds are expected in the Western Cape and Northern Cape.

Impact-based warnings

Orange level 6 warning: Disruptive rain resulting in flooding of roads and settlements (formal and informal), danger to life (fast-flowing streams/deep water), displacement of affected communities, loss of livelihood and livestock is expected along the south coast and adjacent interior of KwaZulu-Natal until Friday.

Yellow level 4 warning: Disruptive rain resulting in flooding of roads and settlements (formal and informal), danger to life (fast-flowing streams/deep water), displacement of affected communities, loss of livelihood and livestock is expected over the eastern and southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal until Friday.

Yellow level 4 warning: Severe thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours and with a possibility of damaging winds, excessive lightning and hail, leading to injuries and danger to life, as well as localised flooding, are expected over the eastern and northern Free State, north-western KwaZulu-Natal, and the southern Highveld of Mpumalanga.

Yellow level 2 warning: Disruptive rain resulting in localised flooding of settlements, roads, and low-lying bridges, and localised disruptions to power supply and communications, is expected over the southern and extreme eastern parts of the Eastern Cape until Friday.

Yellow level 2 warning: Damaging winds resulting in localised damage to settlements, localised interruption to power and communications and difficult driving conditions are expected over the southern parts of the Northern Cape and the northern parts of the Western 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.

Advisory

Very cold, wet and windy conditions are expected over the south-western parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the southern parts of the Northern Cape, as well as the Cape Winelands, Central Karoo and Little Karoo districts of the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, and the eastern and southern parts of the Free State until Friday. Light snowfall is possible over the high-lying areas of the Western Cape.

The weather in your province

Gauteng: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

Pretoria: 12°C – 29°C

Johannesburg: 9°C – 27°C

Vereeniging: 10°C – 26°C

Mpumalanga: Cloudy in the east, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers over the Highveld.

Mbombela: 12°C – 27°C

Ermelo: 7°C – 23°C

Emalahleni: 9°C – 27°C

Standerton: 6°C – 25°C

Skukuza: 13°C – 30°C

Limpopo: Partly cloudy and warm.

Polokwane: 13°C – 28°C

Phalaborwa: 14°C – 30°C

Tzaneen: 12°C – 27°C

Musina: 18°C – 31°C

Lephalale: 14°C – 31°C

Mokopane: 13°C – 28°C

North West: Partly cloudy, windy and warm with isolated thundershowers.

Klerksdorp: 11°C – 28°C

Potchefstroom: 12°C – 28°C

Mahikeng: 13°C – 30°C

Rustenburg: 15°C – 30°C

Vryburg: 11°C – 29°C

Free State: Cloudy, windy and cool to warm with scattered showers and thundershowers but isolated in the west where it will be partly cloudy.

Bloemfontein: 8°C – 22°C

Welkom: 10°C – 26°C

Bethlehem: 9°C – 17°C

Northern Cape: Partly cloudy and cool to warm but cloudy, windy and cold in the south. Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected in the east, and south-east.

The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong south-easterly.

Upington: 10°C – 23°C

Kimberley: 6°C – 22°C

De Aar: 8°C – 13°C

Alexander Bay: 11°C – 20°C

Springbok: 8°C – 18°C

Calvinia: 6°C – 18°C

Sutherland: 4°C – 10°C

Western Cape: Partly cloudy in the west and south-west, otherwise cloudy and cool to cold with isolated showers and rain over the central and eastern parts, but scattered along the eastern parts of the south coast. It will be windy in places in the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-easterly, but strong in the south-west.

Cape Town: 12°C – 19°C

Vredendal: 12°C – 21°C

Riversdale: 8°C – 17°C

George: 11°C – 16°C

Worcester: 8°C – 18°C

Beaufort West: 7°C – 11°C

Oudtshoorn: 8°C – 15°C

Eastern Cape: Cloudy and cold to very cold with widespread showers and rain. The western half of the province will experience scattered rain in the north and the extreme west, while the eastern half will see scattered rain in the north-west.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-easterly.

Gqeberha: 12°C – 15°C

Makhanda: 10°C – 12°C

Nxuba (Adelaide): 6°C – 10°C

Robert Sobukwe Town (Graaff-Reinet): 6°C – 10°C

Ku Gompo City (East London): 13°C – 15°C

Port St Johns: 12°C – 14°C

Mthatha: 9°C – 11°C

Komani: 5°C – 8°C

Qonce: 10°C – 12°C

KwaZulu-Natal: Morning fog patches over the western parts, otherwise cloudy and cold to cool but very cold in the south-west. Scattered showers and thundershowers are expected over the extreme northern parts, otherwise widespread.

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

Durban: 16°C – 18°C

Richard’s Bay: 17°C – 20°C

Pietermaritzburg: 11°C – 14°C

Ladysmith: 12°C – 16°C

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