Mop up operations continue to Gauteng’s Randfontein area after a tornado ripped through the area on Wednesday.
The South African Weather Service (Saws) has confirmed that storm damage recorded in the Randfontein area, earlier this week, was in fact from a tornado event.
It was reported that a vehicle was damaged after a solar panel flew off a roof, apartment blocks and construction sites suffered damage, and at least 21 people were injured following an incident at the Imphakasi Mall.
IOL reported that the Gauteng West Rand experienced adverse weather conditions, including sightings of a tornado.
Tornado in Randfontein today, let's pray SAns…We want the rain but not this 🙏![CDATA[]]>🙏![CDATA[]]>🕯️🕯️🕯️#PutSouthAfricansFirst pic.twitter.com/dzHr23sej1
— Sadi (@sadi18032311) November 27, 2024
Saws explained that it had issued storm warnings with the possibility of heavy rains, gusty winds and hail in parts of the province.
"A thunderstorm moved to the east across the Randfontein region and another storm blew its gust front that channelled a V-shaped valley to the north of Randfontein. Due to the channelling by the valley, this outflow rapidly and significantly strengthened, connecting and intensifying the storm marked. However, it was almost impossible to determine the magnitude of this outflow," the forecaster said.
Tornado Terror: Randfontein and #Westonaria Devastated – See Shocking Details!#Tornado #Randfontein #Gauteng #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/AzqNXDmJYA
It added that the interaction of this stronger gust front with the thunderstorm which moved across Randfontein triggered the ground-up rotation, which later supported the development of a tornado.
Saws said based on the analysis, the storm can be rated as an EF2 on the enhanced Fujita scale.
"Saws said between June 2016 and June 2021, it was found that 76% of tornadoes developed from the cross-interaction of the strong gust front of an upwind storm with a downwind thunderstorm.
"Tornado events are part of severe thunderstorms, but weather models have difficulty in predicting them due to their small size in comparison to that of the models. These events can picked up with Radar technology, but at a very short lead-time. We are exploring incorporating emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and other technology to enhance its forecasting capabilities," the forecaster explained.
IOL News