Gauteng may face a wet festive season

THE wet weather will continue for a few more weeks – with a few sunny days in between – until the end of December. File picture: Bongani Mbatha African News Agency (ANA)

THE wet weather will continue for a few more weeks – with a few sunny days in between – until the end of December. File picture: Bongani Mbatha African News Agency (ANA)

Published Dec 13, 2021

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PRETORIA: The wet weather in Gauteng will continue for a few more weeks – with a few sunny days in between – until the end of December, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) said on Monday.

The weather bureau also predicted more rain across the province going into the weekend.

Weather forecaster Celeste Fourie gave insights into the weather for this week, addressing some of the rains expected during the month.

“Most parts in Gauteng will continue to experience rain through the week, going into the weekend. However, some parts will have one or two sunny days in the week,” said Fourie.

She said the rain will continue with some thundershowers, but no floods are expected.

Fourie explained that KwaZulu-Natal will also experience similar weather conditions seen in Gauteng, but to a lesser extent.

She warned that some parts in the north of the KZN province might experience floods over the weekend.

Fourie cautioned that they are not ruling out the possibility of heavy rains during the festive season, “so its best to be on the look out and stay vigilant,” she warned.

Meanwhile, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) recently issued a La Niña advisory, in which it indicated that the country is set to receive more rain than expected over the summer.

But, according to Seasonal Climate Watch for August to December, the anticipated above-normal rainfall during spring was likely to have minimal impact on water resources over the summer rainfall regions of the country.

The seasonal watch said, however, there was below-normal rainfall over the south-western parts of the country, which would probably add pressure on water resources, particularly in regions like the Eastern Cape, where water reservoirs were already burdened due to drought.

La Niña, the IRI said, was an intermittent climate phenomenon caused by the cooling of surface ocean water, along the tropical west coast of South America.

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