Durban – The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a Level 1 warning for thunderstorms over parts of KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
The forecaster explained that a surface trough over the west of the country, together with warm temperatures, was creating favourable conditions for severe thunderstorms over the north-western parts of the province.
“The thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by heavy downpours, hail, excessive lightning and strong damaging winds,” SAWS said.
This is predicted to lead to localised damage to infrastructure and settlements due to hail.
This can also impact on traffic, giving rise to the possibility of vehicle accidents.
SAWS added that residents in the Eastern Cape would experience similar weather on Friday.
“A surface trough extending through the Eastern Cape, along with upper-air perturbations, is expected to result in a good chance of thunderstorms over the province. There is a possibility that the expected storms may become severe and result in heavy downpours, excessive lightning and hail,” the weather service said.
A fire danger warning has been issued for the Dawid Kruiper, Kareeberg and Ubuntu local municipalities of the Northern Cape.
“Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers from the afternoon but scattered in the south,” the forecaster said.
Meanwhile, Santam has advised residents in the hailstorm ‘hot spots’ of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to take the necessary precautions and exercise extreme vigilance in anticipation of the predicted hail season for these regions over summer.
Santam’s Philippa Wild said a 2021 research report on the characteristics of the hail hazard in South Africa, based on satellite detection of convective storms, found that hail events were concentrated mainly in the south-east of the country, along the Highveld and the eastern slopes.
The research found that hail events were most frequent from around mid-November through to February and peaked in the afternoon, between 1pm and 5pm.
IOL