Weather: Gauteng’s sunburn risk, and today isn’t technically spring

Spring is here! The SA Weather Service (Saws) rolled out its most recent weather forecast for 2 September 2023, which predicts isolated showers along the country’s coast.

Fine and warm to cool conditions are expected across the interior, with fire alerts issued across three provinces.

Weather warnings, 2 September

There are no impact-based weather warnings at the time of publishing.

That said, Saws cautioned of extreme fire danger conditions in areas across the Free State, the North West province, and the southernmost regions of Limpopo Province.

Spring has sprung (but not really)

Meanwhile, Spring has sprung, even though 1 September isn’t technically Spring Day. At least not in the sense which officially marks the start of the season of blossoms.

Spring in the Southern Hemisphere in 2022 will technically begin on Friday, 23 September and end on 22 December, ushering in Summer.

While the meteorological spring, which is based on temperature cycle, does start on 1 September, astronomical spring (based on the position of Earth) will start on 23 September.

This is also known as the vernal equinox, which falls on 20 or 21 March in the northern hemisphere.

Provincial weather forecast

Here’s what to expect in your province tomorrow:

Gauteng’s pleasant weather, with risk

Gauteng residents can anticipate a generally fine and warm day on Saturday.

The Ultra Violet Burn (UVB) index, however, is predicted to be high, suggesting a need for sun protective measures.

Tale of two climates in Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga will be experiencing a mix of partly cloudy skies and morning fog along the escarpment.

Elsewhere, the weather will remain fine, while it will be particularly hot in the lowveld.

Limpopo: Warm to hot

For those in Limpopo, the east may start off with some cloud cover.

Overall though, the day will be fine and will range from warm to hot temperatures.

Free State and North West

Both the Free State and North West provinces will enjoy clear skies throuhout most of the day.

While the Free State will experience cool to warm temperature ranges, the North West will be “uniformly warm”, according to Saws.

A contrast in Northern Cape

While the Northern Cape will generally be warm, the southern regions will experience cooler to colder conditions.

Coastal winds will be light to moderate, and mostly southerly to south-easterly.

Western Cape’s chill

Western Cape residents will face cloudy skies with occasional rain showers along the south-west coast.

Overall, it will be partly cloudy and range from cold to cool.

The UVB sunburn index is projected to be low.

Eastern Cape divided

The western half of the Eastern Cape will have cloudy skies along the coast but will remain partly cloudy and cool inland.

The eastern half will also be cool but could experience isolated rainfall along the coast and the interior near the escarpment.

KwaZulu-Natal’s mixed bag

KwaZulu-Natal will have morning fog in the interior regions.

The weather will generally be partly cloudy and cool but warm in the northern regions. Light rain may occur along the southern coast.