Severe thundershowers and disruptive rain forecast over parts of the country

Severe thunderstorms have been predicted over various parts of the country, including the North West, Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape. File Picture: Mike Hutchings / Reuters

Severe thunderstorms have been predicted over various parts of the country, including the North West, Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape. File Picture: Mike Hutchings / Reuters

Published Jan 9, 2024

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The South African Weather Service (Saws) has issued three weather alerts for severe thunderstorms and disruptive rain in parts of the country for Wednesday.

The forecaster has issued a Yellow Level 4 warning for severe thunderstorms over the southern parts of the North West province and the north-central parts of the Free State.

"These storms are expected to produce heavy downpours,strong winds, hail, and excessive lightning that may result in flooding of roads, settlements, and low-lying areas, resulting in the closure of some bridges and roads," Saws said.

The forecaster further issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms over parts of the North West, Free State, and areas in the extreme east of the Northern Cape.

The forecast is extended to the south-eastern parts of Mpumalanga and the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

"These storms are expected to produce heavy downpours,strong winds, hail, and excessive lightning that may result in localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas, and bridges, localised damage to informal houses, and localised structural damage," Saws added.

Meanwhile, a Yellow Level 2 warning of disruptive rainfall has been predicted over the eastern half of the Eastern Cape.

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) is urging municipalities and government entities to collaborate in fixing the infrastructure that heavy rains have damaged in the past few days.

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