VIDEO | Brace for a December of storms and heavy rainfall

If you are already tired of the incessant rain and its accompanying thunder and lightning and looking forward to sunny skies, brace yourself, more is still coming.

The SA Weather Service has warned South Africans to brace for a wet December with heavy storm and rainfall predicted in the afternoons across Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

Forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela warned that as the festive season approaches, December will remain storm-prone, particularly across the eastern parts of the country.

“There will be more severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail, strong winds and occasional multi-day rainfall events that could lead to localised flooding,” he said.

“The western half of SA, including the Northern Cape, Western Cape interior, North West and western Free State — may experience punishing heatwaves."

There will be more severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail, strong winds and occasional multi-day rainfall events that could lead to localised flooding

—  Lehlohonolo Thobela, Forecaster

Residents is some parts of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane reported damage to their homes and vehicles following Sunday’s hailstorms that hit parts of Gauteng.

Kempton Park resident Cardia Fourie said her house was damaged by the hail. Fourie said when the hail started after 11pm, “it sounded like rocks had started falling”.

“You could hear doof, doof and it became more and more,” she said.

She said when she looked out of a window, the hail stones were the size of freezer ice blocks.

Valencia Petje, who lives in Pretoria North, said when the hail started, “It felt like the entire roof was going to cave in”.

Her house flooded, solar panels were damaged and a bathroom window was shattered. Petje said she, her husband and daughter prayed for the storm to pass. “We slept huddled together. It was scary. I literally thought this was the end,” Petje said.

She said people in her neighbourhood woke up to lawns covered in thick ice and garage doors blocked by ice. An excavator had to clear roads.

“I no longer see the greenery I used to see. It’s greenery plus ice. It’s like a winter wonderland, except I’m in panic mode.”

Thobela said the recent changes of extreme weather is quite normal. He said the weather reflects both short-term atmospheric conditions and a long-term warming trend that is making storms more severe.

Thobela urged the public to take weather warnings seriously, as they play a critical role in reducing the risk of injury, loss of life or property damage. “Yesterday’s (Sunday) impacts clearly demonstrate how quickly weather conditions can deteriorate once thunderstorms intensify.

He said the current climate trends and seasonal forecasts indicate a possible future increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across parts of SA.

Sowetan