Rain rain don’t go away
The flash storms we get here in the Highveld can be frightening with strong winds, frequent lightning and thunder and a lot of rain, except in recent years the rain has become less and less.
The flash storms we get here in the Highveld can be frightening with strong winds, frequent lightning and thunder and a lot of rain, except in recent years the rain has become less and less. Unlike climates in parts of South Africa such as the Eastern Cape that can receive days with none stop light rain, our thunderstorms are over very quickly and do not leave us with as much water as one might expect.
A picture of the storm on Monday 26 October taken by a local resident. (Photo: Rocco Moolman)
According to Henris Botma, a local resident who has been keeping track of the weather for 30 years, we have received about 68 mm of rain for the month so far which is more than that of 2014 which received only 64 mm for the entire month of October. This is a good sign but compared to previous years like 2013 which received double that amount with 141mm for the month of October there is a lot to be desired. On Monday, October 26 from 07:00 to Tuesday, October 27 to 07:00 30mm of rain fell accompanied by hail.
Some people are praying for rain while others could do with a few more sunny days. We asked this question on the WITBANK NEWS Facebook page, “We want to know if anyone has suffered damage because of the storms this past week?” here are the responses. Helen Christine Williams said, “Yes. My house was hit by lighting last Friday and my car port collapsed last night.”
Another commenter Sam Mokgatla Leshaba said, “Yes deris a house in Klarinet ext.4 dt da roofing flew off.”
With the rapidly changing weather on the Highveld it might be good practise to keep an eye on the weather forecasts.
According to weathersa.co.za Friday and Saturday are set to be partly cloudy with a maximum temperature of 29 on Friday and 35 On Saturday. Sunday and Monday are set to be rainy days here in Emalahleni.
