Water Wheel July/August 2022: Weather Forecasting

Abstract

Improving extreme weather forecasts for South Africans In mid-April, severe weather and flooding devastated parts of KwaZulu-Natal. Extreme rainfall and widespread flooding resulted in billions of Rand of damage across all economic sectors. The eThekwini Municipality announced an estimated R3.8 billion in damage caused by the floods to city infrastructure, excluding human settlements. Thousands were misplaced and had to seek shelter, food and health facilities as many parts of eThekwini were wrapped in darkness as power stations folded. At the time writing, 459 fatalities have been confirmed with dozens of people still missing. Though the severity came as a surprise, the weather did not arrive unannounced. At least four days before the worst of the weather hit, a weather forecaster at the South African Weather Service (SAWS) head office in Johannesburg raised the alarm to provincial disaster risk management teams, who conducted their operation with hourly backups from the SAWS as the cut-off low system swept over South Africa’s south-west coast.

Categories