On 7 November 2023, The SA Weather Service (SAWS) issued a warning about severe thunderstorms that could include hail in the Gauteng area, but a hailstorm hit Gauteng recently
SAWS media officer Hannellee Doubell supplied ClickHub with their official statement on what caused the sudden Gauteng hailstorm weather on 13 November 2013.
Although the Johannesburg hail warnings were expected to subside by 8 November 2023. On 13 November 2023, South Africans in Gauteng were posting recent videos of a hailstorm that caused damage to cars and houses.
Does it hail in Johannesburg?
PBA Brokers reported that Gauentg gets an average of eight hail days. Lehlohonolo Thobela, on behalf of SAWS, explained in their official communication to South Africa why the hailstones happened. According to SAWS, central parts of the country had low air pressure combined with high pressure from the east, creating moist air that caused thunderstorms.
The storm came northeastwards to reach Gauteng and southwestern Mpumalanga. SAWS’ Lehlohonolo wrote that the storm caused hail which damaged property in Gauteng. The damage in TikTok videos by netizens suggests that the hailstones were huge. SAWS documented the size of the hail in Gauteng. See the picture below:
@millobabe posted a TikTok of the damage the hailstorm in Midrand caused to her car. The hail was dangerous as all the windows were smashed, and glass was all over the seats.
A woman on TikTok also showed the serious damage the hail caused to her house. She panned the camera to show most of the windows in her home were broken:
A TikTokker recorded similar golf ball-sized hailstones. Watch the clip by @bibowest:
Did SAWS warn Joburg and Midrand area?
Hail is not a usual occurrence, especially at massive sizes. Preparation is key to avoid damage. A netizen, @where-angles_roam, was curious whether the national forecaster issued a warning:
ClickHub contacted SAWS to find out if the organisation shared any warnings and if there is a possibility of more hail. SAWS’s statement by Lehlohonolo shows that they issued the warning to South African on 13 September 2023 after it was observed on satellites at 4:22 pm.
SAWS assured South Africa that they were not expecting any more thunderstorms. They highlighted the effects of El Niño and how there may be flactuating extreme conditions. The national weather forecasters said:
“For the remainder of the week, partly cloudy and warm conditions will persist for most parts of the
country, with hot to very hot conditions expected to be over the south-western areas of the country.
Isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers/thunderstorms will be confined to the central and
eastern parts.”