The South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms for Tuesday, covering North West, Gauteng, the Mpumalanga Highveld, south-western Limpopo, northern Free State, and the extreme north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape. Severe thunderstorms are expected to hit large parts of South Africa on Tuesday, with heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail, and excessive lightning forecasted.
Gauteng residents can expect a sharp change to cloudy and cold conditions on Tuesday, although temperatures will be slightly milder in the extreme north. Scattered showers and thundershowers are forecast across the province, with rainfall chances reaching 60%. The UVB sunburn index will be moderate. Localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas, and bridges is possible due to the storms.
North West will be cloudy, windy, and cool, with scattered showers and thunderstorms. The province falls within the Yellow Level 2 warning area and has a 60% chance of rain in parts. Mpumalanga will be cloudy and cold, with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will become more isolated over the northern Lowveld, while rainfall chances reach 60% over parts of the province.
Limpopo will also experience cloudy and cold conditions, with isolated showers and thunderstorms becoming scattered over the south-western and south-central parts. Rain chances range between 30% and 60% across the province. The Free State will be cold in the east and otherwise cloudy and cool. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are forecast, becoming scattered in the north.
The Northern Cape will be fine and warm across much of the province, but partly cloudy conditions and isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected in the east, where the chance of rain is around 30%. Western Cape is expected to remain largely dry, with no rain indicated in the rainfall forecast. It will be partly cloudy over the north-eastern parts in the morning before becoming fine and cool to warm.
The Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal can expect cooler conditions. The western half of the Eastern Cape will be partly cloudy along the coast at first before becoming fine and cool. The eastern half will be partly cloudy and cool south of the escarpment, becoming cloudy along the coast later in the day. KwaZulu-Natal can expect morning and evening fog over the interior, with otherwise cloudy and cold to cool conditions.
Rainfall projections show a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms across Gauteng and parts of North West and Mpumalanga, while a 30% chance is forecast across other parts of the country’s central and eastern regions. Strong winds are possible along parts of the coastline, with fresh to strong north-easterly winds along the south coast in the morning.
Key points
- A Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms has been issued for several regions in South Africa.
- Severe thunderstorms are expected to hit large parts of South Africa on Tuesday, with heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail, and excessive lightning forecasted.
- Localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas, and bridges is possible due to the storms.
