Johannesburg – The wet weather is expected to persist in the coming days over most parts of the country, with further risk of flooding in places, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned.
“Most of the country can expect rains over the coming days, with the risk of flash flooding in some places,” SAWS said
The central and eastern parts of the country have already seen flooding in recent days and weeks due to a lot of rain that has been experienced since the beginning of the summer rainfall season.
SAWS warned that the ground in many of these places remains saturated and rivers and streams are running full. Under such conditions, a flash flood could be triggered quite easily, and the public is therefore strongly urged to be extra vigilant.
The latest severe weather event will be due to a cut-off low (COL) pressure system, developing west of the country, and is expected to intensify as it moves closer.
“The system will influence weather patterns over most parts of the country during the next five days, resulting in scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers in places,” SAWS said Friday.
Severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are likely, starting from the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, spreading to the Free State, and reaching Free State, North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga by Monday.
SAWS warned that other hazards associated with this system were hail and lightning.
“Furthermore, the south-western coastal areas of the country are expected to experience strong south-easterly winds of between 50 to 70 km/h,” said SAWS.
Ordinarily, south-easterly winds around the Cape Peninsula are associated with fair weather.
However, with the presence of a cut-off low, there may be some thundershowers, leading to a phenomenon referred to as the “black-south-easter”.
“Rough sea conditions are also expected around the south-western coast and could contribute to difficulty at navigation at sea,” SAWS said.
There was also a risk of small and personal watercrafts, such as kayaks, taking on water and capsizing.
Possible localised disruptions to beach activities were also likely, the weather service said.
Meanwhile, the body of a police officer who was swept away in flash floods in Soweto floods has been recovered.
Brig Athlenda Mathe said the off-duty officer’s private vehicle was swept away in floods on Friday.
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