Summer is here and so are the summer winds, so it might be time to retire those umbrellas.
No, really, don’t take them outside. Nobody wants to see you fighting with the mangled carcass of an umbrella on the side of the road.
Those things become a hazard when they break free and make their way towards unguarded shins and unsuspecting cars.
It isn’t only umbrellas that need to watch out for strong winds. At the Huguenot tunnel, winds of between 98 km/h and 120 km/h have been recorded, reports News24.
Then, this happened. Take a look:
Traffic chief Kenny Africa said a truck overturned in Klawer on the N7, leaving only half a lane open. Nobody was injured in the crash.
“Motorists towing caravans and truck drivers [are warned to] be aware of the dangerous situation we are currently experiencing,” he said. The South African Weather Services has advised the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre of gale force winds on Saturday and Sunday. “South easterly winds of between 60 and 70 km/h, gusting up to 90km/h in places are expected over the Cape Metropole,” disaster risk management spokesperson Mandy Thomas said.
The Western Cape isn’t the only part of the Cape experiencing extreme weather. Watch as the sky turns red in the Northern Cape:
The #dust storm at Alexander Bay #Northern Cape this morning Tessa Engelbrecht @SAWeatherServic @sawx_sa_weather @eNCA @debeer_anika @venter_annette @maroelamedia @TeamNews24 @zarsg pic.twitter.com/zPt4uq4zwE
— ReenvalSA (@ReenvalSA) October 21, 2018
According to The South African, the apocalyptic scene, which happened in Alexander Bay, was caused by a massive dust storm.
Swirls of dust and sand made their way inland and the footage was captured by local residents Tessa Engelbrecht and Deon Mostert. Their videos show an eerie, dull-red skyline just after sunrise. As the camera pans across several properties, visibility is severely limited.
We spoke to AfricaWeather’s head meteorologist about this phenomenon. Alan Morrison explained to us what has caused this freak event:
“A low-pressure system situated off the south coast of Namibia is extending a trough over the Northern Cape. This, coupled with a strong ridge along the east coast of South Africa, is leading to a moist NE airflow and an unstable atmosphere. Strong eastern winds are also accompanying this event”
That’s some extreme weather. Pay attention when driving behind a swaying truck.
[sources:southafrican&news24]
