South Africans have endured days of heavy rain, plunging temperatures and damaging winds that a weather expert says were triggered by a powerful cut-off low system lingering over the north-western parts of the country.
Samkelisiwe Thwala, a senior forecaster with the SA Weather Service, said the system was responsible for the widespread disruption.
“A well-defined upper-air system, referred to as a cut-off low, was situated over the north-western parts of the country. This system is associated with heavy rainfall, a drastic drop in temperatures, and strong to gale-force winds,” she explained.
We advise communities to stay updated with weather alerts and exercise caution, as severe thunderstorms are still possible in the coming days.
— Samkelisiwe Thwala, senior forecaster
What intensified the system even further was an influx of warm, tropical moisture from the northern parts of the continent. Thwala said this moisture “enhanced the high-intensity rainfall as observed over the past few days”, resulting in persistent downpours and localised flooding in parts of the country.
Thwala said the cut-off low will begin to weaken by Saturday into an upper-air trough, bringing some relief from the extreme conditions. However, weather instability is expected to continue into next week.
Forecasters have predicted isolated showers and thundershowers across the central and eastern regions of South Africa, with scattered storms expected in some eastern areas. The weather service has also issued a warning for severe thunderstorms over the western and interior parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
While the worst of the cut-off low has passed, Thwala urged the public to remain cautious as storm conditions persist in certain regions. “We advise communities to stay updated with weather alerts and exercise caution, as severe thunderstorms are still possible in the coming days,” she said.
Sowetan
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