Level 2 warning for thunderstorms, severe weather conditions in SA

The South African Weather Service (Saws) has issued a watch for severe weather conditions expected to hit parts of the country from Monday.

Thunderstorm activity has been observed over northern parts of Gauteng, highveld of Mpumalanga, northern Free State and western North West province from Monday afternoon.

“Severe storms are possible over the central interior from this afternoon [Monday] spreading eastwards during this evening,” it said in a statement.

“Yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms expected over parts of the central and eastern interior today [25 October 2021] which may produce heavy downpours, hail and strong to damaging winds. Storms are expected to develop over North West and Free State spreading east from late afternoon.”

The Saws expects strong easterly and southeasterly winds to hit between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay from Tuesday evening and throughout Wednesday. Rough and choppy seas can be expected, it said.

City Power on high alert

In a statement on Monday, City Power assured Johannesburg residents that there were standby teams on high alert to respond to power interruptions.

“During thunderstorms as the past has taught us, trees get uprooted, fall on power lines and disrupt power supply. Trees come into contact with power lines as they violently shake, causing power lines to snap. Poles carrying power lines get toppled over which often result in power interruptions,” it said.

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“As these weather activities happen to high-voltage overhead line, large areas get affected, which take longer to restore. Substations also get flooded which is another potential cause of power interruptions.

“However, City Power technicians are on high alert to attend to all the power outages that are weather related and those that are not weather related.”

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde