Weather Warning - SA Coastal & Interior + New Climate Records

Gale force southeasterlies (35kts or 65km/h) are expected in places between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay. Heavy falls of rain and showers in places over the south-eastern part of Northern Cape, southern and central Free State and the eastern part of Eastern Cape. Hot and humid conditions which may lead to dangerously high levels of discomfort are expected over the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

NVDL: The rain must blow now - in the Cape - and get it over with. I've heard reports that PE and Bloem are insufferably hot, and PE is having a lot of violent stormy weather.

Records:
Highest Maximum 31.1 1992-03-11 31.3 2008-03-03
Shaleburn

Highest Minimum 25.4 2003-03-18 25.52008-03-04
Richards Bay Airport

Highest Maximum 38.2 1996-03-11 38.4 2008-03-04
Bisho

Highest Maximum 43.7 2001-03-14 44.0 2008-03-03
Uitenhage

Highest Maximum 38.5 2003-03-29 40.2 2008-03-03
Port Alfred - Airport

Highest Minimum 20.8 2004-03-18 21.3 2008-03-04
Port Alfred - Airport

National Weather + Fire Warning

Floods

Isolated heavy falls of rain which may lead to localized flooding are possible in places over the western parts of Limpopo Province.

Fire

Weather conditions favourable for the development and spread of runaway fires are expected in places in the Cape Town Metropole, Boland and Swartland.

New Climate Records Yesterday + Weather Warning

Disturbed weather patterns, essentially weather chaos, is what Climate Change is all about. Warming (leading to droughts and fires) is a trend, but so is freaky cold weather in midsummer, floods in a dry season, that sort of thing. Have a look at the climate records below. All are for one day, yesterday.

Lowest Maximum 19.2 1974-01-26 18.3 2008-01-09
Skukuza
Lowest Maximum 22.3 2006-01-09 21.1 2008-01-09
Mbazwana Airfield
Lowest Maximum 11.6 2003-01-10 11.1 2008-01-09
Ermelo Weather Office
Lowest Maximum 18.0 2003-01-24 15.8 2008-01-09
Pretoria Unisa
Lowest Maximum 17.9 1996-01-28 17.3 2008-01-09
Oudestad
Lowest Maximum 15.7 1996-01-28 13.7 2008-01-09
Lydenburg
Lowest Maximum 17.7 1994-01-25 15.3 2008-01-09
Nelspruit
Lowest Maximum 13.0 1994-01-25 12.1 2008-01-09
Graskop Aws
Lowest Maximum 15.8 1994-01-24 15.2 2008-01-09
Springs
Lowest Maximum 15.4 2000-01-14 14.3 2008-01-09
Lichtenburg
Lowest Maximum 19.6 2000-01-17 17.9 2008-01-09
Hoedspruit
Lowest Maximum 18.8 1996-01-28 18.7 2008-01-09
Marken
Lowest Maximum 18.3 1972-01-23 16.5 2008-01-09
Phalaborwa
Lowest Maximum 20.5 1962-01-24 19.9 2008-01-09
Punda Maria

National Weather Warning:
Very cold conditions are expected on the Mpumalanga escarpment.

New Climate Records Yesterday (South Africa)

Highest Minimum 26.4 2001-12-09 27.2 2007-12-21 Augrabies Falls

NVDL: Odd isn't it, while it is really unusally chilly here, it is steaming at Augrabies.

New Weather Records

Lowest Maximum 20.1 1991-12-21 19.9 2007-12-18 Oudestad
Lowest Maximum 20.2 1997-12-18 18.6 2007-12-18 Hoedspruit
Lowest Maximum 18.9 2004-12-09 18.8 2007-12-18
Marken
Lowest Maximum 19.0 1969-12-09 17.0 2007-12-18 Phalaborwa

NVDL:
I noticed that today was particularly cold in Jozi. Ice Age setting in ?-)

New Weather Record

Highest Daily Rain
Old value: 44.0mm 1999-12-01
New Value: 52.2mm 2007-12-16
Cradock

National Weather Warning

Conditions which may lead to the development and spread of runaway fires are expected over the West Coast district and in places in the Swartland and Boland of the Western Cape.
Heavy falls of rain are possible in places over the central and western Free State, extreme eastern parts of the Northern Cape, Lesotho as well as northern KwaZulu-Natal. Very cold conditions are expected over the southern interior of KwaZulu-Natal as well as over the Drakensberg.

New Climate Records Yesterday (South Africa)

Lowest Minimum
3.6 2005-12-01
3.0 2007-12-04
Geelbek

Lowest Minimum
5.5 2005-12-01
4.1 2007-12-04
Nieuwoudtville

New Climate Records Yesterday (South Africa)

Highest Minimum
23.8 2003-12-17
25.8 2007-12-03
Kathu

Once again, not a fractional increase, but 2 entire degrees Celcius higher. I've started to give up on publishing HOLIDAY, and will begin something new soon. Working title: FIRE AND ICE (set in South Africa).

National Weather Warning

Heavy falls of rain (greater than 50mm) are expected in some places in the eastern half of the Northern Cape, western half of North-West Province, southern half of the Free State and the northern interior of the Eastern Cape.
Thunderstorms in these areas may become severe, with a risk of large hail and damaging winds.

National Weather Warning

Heavy falls of rain will persist in the southern Karoo, Eden District and eastern parts of the Overberg District, and the south coast of the Eastern Cape.

Heavy falls of rain are also possible in places along Limpopo escarpment, Mpumalanga escarpment and the eastern highground as well as KwaZulu-Natal northern interior.

Alert: New Weather Record at Hermanus Yesterday

Highest Daily Rain 24.8mm 1996-11-19
New Record: 66.2mm 2007-11-20
Location: Hermanus

NVDL: Note that this wasn't a 1mm difference. The previous record was smashed by more than double the original figure, an increase of 41.4mm on a fairly recent record.

Alert: National Weather Warning

Heavy falls of rain, that may lead to flash flooding in some places, are expected in the Overberg and the Eden District.

Very cold, wet and windy conditions are expected to persist over the interior of the Western Cape and the western high ground of the Northern Cape Province. Very rough seas, with wave heights exceeding 5 metres, are expected to persist between Cape Point and Algoa Bay.

From WeatherSA.

Alert: National Weather Warning

Heavy falls of rain, that may lead to flash flooding in some places, are expected in the Breede River Valley, Overberg and Eden Districts of the Western Cape and along the south coast of the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal.

These heavy falls are likely to persist into Thursday. Very cold, wet and windy conditions will set in in the interior of the Western Cape and the western high ground of the Northern Cape, persisting on Thursday. Very rough seas, with wave heights exceeding 5 metres, are expected to develop between Cape Columbine and Algoa Bay, persisting on Thursday. Thundershowers in the east of the Eastern Cape, on the Mpumalanga highveld and in northern KwaZulu-Natal may cause isolated heavy falls of rain that could lead to localised flooding.

From WeatherSA

National Weather Warning + Weekend Weather

Dangerously high levels of discomfort are expected in the southern Lowveld of Mpumalanga, Swaziland, Zululand and the Maputaland coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

Weekend Weather:

Cape Town 15 °C 25 °C
Durban 17 °C 22 °C
Johannesburg 13 °C 23 °C
Polokwane 15 °C 27 °C
Nelspruit 16 °C 25 °C
Bloemfontein 8 °C 27 °C

Recent Extreme Temperatures:
Maximum
Date: Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Highest Recorded: 39.7 °C
Recorded at: Vioolsdrif - Aws

Date: Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Lowest Recorded: 15.7 °C
Recorded at: Cape Point

Minimum
Date: Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Highest Recorded: 22.4 °C
Recorded at: Vioolsdrif - Aws

Date: Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Lowest Recorded: 4.4 °C
Recorded at: Shaleburn

KwaZulu and Gauteng Rainfall Records, Weather Warning And Weekend Weather

Rainfall records

Looking at the table of rainfall figures below one can see that a number of places received heavy rainfall, with Durban, Greytown and Pennington South breaking their previous 24-hour rainfall record for November. It is also interesting to note that on this one day Durban received 251% of its normal rainfall for the first ten days of the month, while Mount Edgecombe received 227% and Richards Bay 165%.

NVDL: Many of the previous records are recent, 4 out of 6 between 2000 and 2006. Climate change will affect SA by creating a vastly wetter Eastern Region, and drying the Western Interior. All areas will be more susceptible to storms, and extreme weather - floods and droughts.

Also yesterday:
Highest Daily Rain: Was - 49.4mm (2001-11-24) Now: 58.0 (2007-11-06) Witbank

Warning:
Isolated heavy falls of rain are possible in the escarpment and lowveld areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, including the Soutpansberg.

Weekend Temperatures:


More:

Icebergs passing north of SANAE IV along the coast of Dronning Maud Land
Serious Beach Erosion continuing along the KwaZulu-Natal Coast
Gauteng Snow
The Legacy of Tropical Cyclone Gamede
Sea Level Pressure Analysis and Satellite-derived Ocean Surface Wind Fields

ALERT: Flooding (+SAT IMAGE)

National Warning - Issued on Wednesday, 31 October 2007 at 06.00
Thunderstorms over the extreme northern parts of the Eastern Cape, Free State, central and eastern parts of the North-West Province and southern Gauteng may cause isolated heavy falls which may lead to localized flooding.

The weather this weekend:
Johannesburg: 14/26
Cape Town: 16/21
Durban: 19/27
Bloem: 13/29

ALERT: National Weather Warning

Very cold conditions are expected in places on the highveld and escarpment of Mpumalanga.

Severe thunderstorms with a possibility of heavy falls of rain, strong, gusty winds and damaging hail are expected in places over Gordonia, the Upper Karoo and the northern interior of the Eastern Cape.

ALERT: National Weather Warning (Issued 241007 5AM)

Gale force south-westerly winds are expected between East London and Kosi Bay, moderating from the south later.
Very cold conditions are expected in places in the Eastern Cape, south-western high grounds of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Lesotho.

Weekend Forecast for Johnannesburg and Bloem:

JHB: 11/14
BFN: 14/24

Bloem's a good place to be this weekend; warmer, the Boks' parade (for more accessible in a smaller city), and the Currie Cup Game.

Extreme Weather Yesterday and Today (STATS)

Maximum Temperature

Date: Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Highest Recorded: 41.6 °C
Recorded at: Vioolsdrif - Aws

Date: Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Lowest Recorded: 18.4 °C
Recorded at: Port Nolloth

Minimum Temperature

Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Highest Recorded: 25.1 °C
Recorded at: Twee Rivieren

Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Lowest Recorded: 6.5 °C
Recorded at: Sutherland

Rainfall
Date: Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Highest Recorded: 33.4 mm
Recorded at: Rustenburg