Severe storms in the Free State, North West, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape have been predicted for tomorrow, 17 October, as conditions for these are favourable.
This is according to the SA Weather Service (SAWS) that in a media release today from SAnews said storms could result in strong damaging winds, excessive lightning, possible hail, thundershowers over the Eastern Cape, and heavy downpours over the western and southern part of the Free State, the western part of the North West, as well as the extreme north-eastern part of the Northern Cape tomorrow.
Also expected are hail over open areas, localised damage to settlements in open areas and localised flooding on susceptible roads, and at low-lying areas and bridges. The impact of the severe storm can also include damage to temporary structures, localised and short-term disruption to power supply, localised damage to vehicles, plus some trees could fall and block minor roads.
KwaZulu-Natal may experience damaging winds tomorrow. “A cold front, with a high pressure ahead of it, creates a tight gradient, resulting in strong… winds between Port Edward and Durban tomorrow (early morning), moderating towards midday,” SAWS said.
The strong winds are expected to have a general disruption within ports and the harbour but manageable internally.
There will also be localised difficulty in navigation.
“A surface trough is expected to extend into a coastal low along the South Coast. This, coupled with upper-air perturbations, is expected to result in showers and thundershowers over the Eastern Cape.
“There is a possibility that the expected storms can become severe due to favourable conditions and may result in damaging winds, hail, downpours and excessive lightning,” SAWS added – edited by Bev Mortimer
