Following days of scorching hot weather conditions over several parts of the country, residents in Gauteng can breathe a sigh of relief – thunderstorms are predicted.
This improvement in the daytime temperatures is expected as of Wednesday and Thursday due to a possibility of thundershowers, albeit it’s a dicey situation for now, according to forecaster at the SA Weather Service (Saws) Puseletso Mofokeng.
“However, from Friday (20th January) onwards, we can expect daily thunderstorms in Gauteng, including over the central parts of the country,” said Mofokeng.
“And that will be the case until the end of the month.”
The heat that has been experienced over the last couple of days followed a prolonged period of heavy downpours over most parts of the country since the start of the current summer rainfall season.
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Provinces that have been experiencing heatwaves include the Northern Cape and the Western Cape.
According to Mofokeng, the heatwave conditions are expected to persist on Saturday over the Northern Cape.
ALSO READ: Heatwave conditions expected in parts of Free State and Western Cape
Upington and Kimberly in the Northern Cape recorded daytime-like minimums of 25 and 23 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The daytime temperatures there are expected to be in the region of 37-40 degrees Celsius, Mofokeng said, stressing that it will remain very hot.
“Other provinces will still experience hot conditions, like in the Free State, Bloemfontein and Welkom where temperatures are expected to peak at 36 degrees Celsius.
“That will also be the case for Bothaville as well as Mahikeng in the North West province, so hot weather conditions over the western areas of the North West but we are not necessarily going for a heatwave in those areas,” Mofokeng said.
Other than that, Mofokeng said residents in Gauteng can expect maximums of 29 degrees Celsius in Johannesburg, 31 degrees Celsius in Vereeniging as well as 32 degrees Celsius in Pretoria.
Showers and thundershower chances for Saturday and Sunday
Mofokeng says showers and thundershowers are only in the Eastern Cape for the remainder of this weekend but more limited on Sunday to the eastern parts of the province in question with some light showers over the south coast.
“The rainfall band is expected to spread from Namibia to the central areas of the country and that’s to the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape during daytime while other parts of the country will see no rainfall except for eastern Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
“We will be monitoring any potential for extreme thunderstorms but as of now we are not expecting anything much to happen and the band of thunderstorms will remain on Monday and Tuesday over those west, central parts of the country,” Mofokeng added.
The weather desk did warn of a wet 2023 several months ago.
ALSO READ: LISTEN: Expect a wet 2023, with above normal rainfall until expected till autumn
