Understanding the recent rainfall patterns in KwaZulu-Natal
The amount of rainfall KwaZulu-Natal is receiving is nothing new, said SA Weather Service forecaster Wiseman Dlamini.
Dlamini was answering a question about why the province recently had several disruptive rain warnings.
“For KZN, this is nothing new, especially during the period of summer or rather summer season,” Dlamini said.
“We normally get our rains during this period over the whole province of KZN.”
Dlamini said their long-term forecast, which looks into six months and above, suggested above normal rainfall for the same period we are in now.
“With regard to what is causing this, it’s obviously our thunderstorm season. So thunderstorms are occurring quite frequently from southern Africa then moving over to our southern parts of the country… and eventually reaching KZN,” Dlamini said.
He added: “We can’t rule out the fact that, if you compare what we received in winter, the amounts were quite less and now there’s a shift in the air masses or weather systems that are responsible for giving us rain over the province.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Councillor Henning de Wet of the uMhlathuze Municipality gave a series of updates on the heavy rainfall in Richards Bay.
Providing statistics, Dlamini said these are the areas which received a significant amount of rainfall in northern KZN between Sunday morning and Monday morning:
- Richards Bay - 19.4mm
- Pongola - 22mm
- Vryheid - 39mm
- Newcastle - 26mm
- Ladysmith - 23mm
However, Dlamini said between Saturday morning and Sunday morning, Richards Bay received 169.2mm of rainfall.
De Wet said:
- Blocked stormwater systems and over 200mm of rainfall resulted in floodwaters.
- After the recent rains, the St Lucia mouth opened, with water from the estuary running into the ocean.
- The Zululand Multi Sports Club was flooded.
- Around 9.30am on Sunday, De Wet said over 200mm of rain was recorded in Richards Bay since approximately 4am. This resulted in severe flooding on roads and caused damage to homes, particularly in rural communities. The City’s Disaster Management team was actively prioritising these issues and working swiftly to provide assistance where needed.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za