News24 | Saturday’s weather: Excessive lightning, hail, damaging winds in some provinces

Thunderstorms are expected in large parts of South Africa.

Dmytro Balkhovitin/Getty Images

Saturday will bring with it heavy downpurs, excessive lightning and hail for most parts of the country, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS). Some provinces will experience cool to warm conditions.

Impact-based warnings

Orange Level 5: Severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging winds, excessive lightning, and hail are expected in the north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape and the extreme western parts of the Free State. This may lead to injuries, danger to life, flooding, and motor vehicle accidents due to slippery roads and reduced visibility.

Yellow Level 2: Severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging winds, excessive lightning, and hail are expected in the western parts of the Free State, extreme western parts of the North West, and central parts of the Northern Cape, leading to localised flooding.

Yellow Level 2: Disruptive rain is expected along the KwaZulu-Natal coast in the morning, causing localised flooding of settlements, roads, and low-lying bridges, as well as disruptions to power supply and communications.

Yellow Level 2: Damaging winds are expected over the Northern Cape (except in the south-east), the western and northern parts of the Western Cape, and the western parts of the North West, leading to localised damage to settlements and difficult driving conditions.

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.

The weather in your province

Gauteng: Cloudy and cool, becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. Warm in the extreme north.

Pretoria: 12°C — 23°C

Johannesburg: 9°C — 21°C

Vereeniging: 11°C — 20°C

Mpumalanga: Cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and rain in the east, becoming partly cloudy in the west in the afternoon.

Mbombela: 15°C — 16°C

Ermelo: 9°C — 17°C

Emalahleni: 11°C — 25°C

Standerton: 11°C — 18°C

Skukuza: 17°C — 23°C

Limpopo: Partly cloudy to cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and rain in the east.

Polokwane: 13°C — 24°C

Phalaborwa: 17°C — 26°C

Tzaneen: 17°C — 24°C

Musina: 17°C — 26°C

Lephalale: 17°C — 29°C

Mokopane: 13°C — 27°C

North West: Cloudy, windy, and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers over the west.

Klerksdorp: 13°C — 23°C

Potchefstroom: 12°C — 23°C

Mahikeng: 15°C — 24°C

Rustenburg: 14°C — 26°C

Vryburg: 15°C — 22°C

Free State: Cloudy, windy, and cool, with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers over the central and western parts.

Bloemfontein: 11°C — 20°C

Welkom: 12°C — 22°C

Bethlehem: 7°C — 18°C

Northern Cape: Cloudy, windy, and cool to warm with scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers except in the extreme western parts where it will be partly cloudy and cold in places.

Upington: 13°C — 23°C

Kimberley: 12°C — 20°C

De Aar: 8°C — 18°C

Alexander Bay: 14°C — 23°C

Springbok: 16°C — 25°C

Calvinia: 10°C — 25°C

Sutherland: 5°C — 19°C

Western Cape: Fine over the south-western parts, otherwise cloudy to partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the north-east.

Cape Town: 14°C — 24°C

Vredendal: 15°C — 31°C

Riversdale: 10°C — 22°C

George: 9°C — 17°C

Worcester: 9°C — 24°C

Beaufort West: 9°C — 19°C

Oudtshoorn: 8°C — 23°C

Eastern Cape: Cloudy and cool with isolated to scattered showers and rain except along the coast and adjacent interior where it will be partly cloudy in places.

Gqeberha: 14°C — 21°C

Makhanda: 11°C — 21°C

Nxuba: 6°C — 19°C

Robert Sobukwe Town: 4°C — 20°C

Ku Gompo City: 13°C — 20°C

Port St Johns: 12°C — 20°C

Mthatha: 8°C — 19°C

Komani: 6°C — 17°C

Qonce: 10°C — 19°C

KwaZulu-Natal: Cloudy and cool with isolated showers and rain but scattered along the coast and adjacent interior.

Durban: 15°C — 21°C

Richards Bay: 16°C — 21°C

Pietermaritzburg: 10°C — 19°C

Ladysmith: 10°C — 18°C

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