The cold persists into Saturday and Sunday for both cities in the province.
Gauteng will experience cold and partly cloudy conditions throughout the weekend, according to the South African Weather Service (Saws).
Forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela said no rain is expected in the province, despite the drop in temperatures.
“The province will be partly cloudy and cold into the weekend, with no precipitation expected,” Thobela confirmed on Thursday.
Cold days
Johannesburg is forecast to reach a maximum of 15°C on Friday, with a biting minimum of 4°C.
The cold persists into Saturday and Sunday, with highs of 15°C and 18°C, respectively. Minimum temperatures will hover around 6°C and 7°C.
Pretoria, while slightly warmer, won’t escape the chill. The capital city will see a maximum of 17°C and a minimum of 7°C on both Friday and Saturday.
Sunday will warm slightly to a high of 19°C, with a minimum of 8°C.
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Emergency services remain vigilant
In Johannesburg, emergency services are monitoring all seven regions for potential fire and cold-related incidents. City of Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi urged residents to use heating devices safely.
“It is extremely cold in most parts of the city of Johannesburg. Residents are urged to exercise caution when using heating devices, such as braziers, imbaula, heaters, paraffin, stones, candles, and not to leave them unattended while in use, so that we can prevent fire incidents which might occur during these extremely cold temperatures,” said Mulaudzi.
“From our side, as a city of Johannesburg, we remain on high alert, monitoring all seven regions of the city for any emergencies which might occur,” he added.
Residents in Johannesburg can call 011-375-5911 for emergencies.
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Thunderstorm warning for Tshwane
In Tshwane, officials are still responding to a yellow Level 3 weather warning issued by Saws for Thursday, linked to the cut-off low system that passed through Gauteng.
City of Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Lindsay Mnguni said they would continue monitoring for possible impacts of earlier thunderstorms.
“Severe thunderstorms are expected to cause localised flooding, small hail and wind damage due to a cut-off low-pressure system moving over the region. Rainfall amounts of up to 15 to 20mm per hour are expected in some places,” said Mnguni.
“The City of Tshwane Emergency Services department would like to call on communities to remain alert following a yellow Level 3 warning issued by the South African Weather Service for Thursday for severe thunderstorms over most parts of Gauteng, including Tshwane, due to a cut-off low-pressure system.”
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