The South African Weather Service (Saws) has issued a warning of disruptive rain over the central parts of the country, including Gauteng and the North West.
Saws has further issued a yellow level 4 warning for heavy rains and localised flooding in Gauteng, North West and northern Free State.
A yellow level 4 warning has been issued for storms with localised flooding and strong damaging winds over Gauteng, the extreme north-eastern parts of the North West and the wester areas of the western Bushveld of Limpopo on Tuesday.
A yellow level 2 warning has been issued for storms with localised flooding and strong winds over the remainder of the western Limpopo, Mpumalanga Highveld, the north-eastern and south-eastern areas of Free State as well as the eastern areas of North West.
“There is a greatly elevated risk of significant impacts in relation to localised flooding. The warning level for the last-mentioned area is therefore classified as Level 6 Orange,” the forecaster said.
Saws said further rain will therefore very quickly lead to overland run-off and localised flooding. Stream and river systems can also be expected to begin flowing strongly.
“The public are strongly encouraged to exercise extreme caution, whether in a vehicle or on foot, when crossing low-watered bridges, to avoid being swept away by strong water flow,” Saws said in a statement.
According to the weather service, a cut-off low, located in the mid to upper reaches of the atmosphere, currently lies over the western parts of southern Africa. This system is likely to significantly influence the circulation over the southern African subcontinent, especially in the next 48 hours.
“Widespread rain as well as embedded thunderstorms are occurring in a broad band of tropically sourced air, migrating southwards through Zambia and Botswana. Consequently, the prospects for rain over much of South Africa remain favourable in the days ahead, especially over the eastern half of the country,” warned the weather service.
Source: News, The Citizen, IOL, image from Twitter: @KayaON959
