Rain and storm for Cpt pt 2

Gordon_R said:
DWS dam levels are starting to update, and show impressive increases for the Berg River Dam (up 15% from 52.5% to 67.5%) and Theewaterskloof (up 11% from 50% to 61%) during the 24 hours to 8am on Tues 12th:
View attachment 1907469
View attachment 1907470
Click to expand...

Theewaterskloof Dam always takes longer to fill, but rocketed again yesterday (DWS data only updated at midnight). An increase of 7% from 61% to 68% is a huge amount of water (was 50% on Monday morning), and this is by far the largest dam in the CoCT catchment area.
2080_Theewaterskloof_20260513.png
 
satanboy said:
View attachment 1907703
Click to expand...

That was yesterday (Tues 12th), see my post above...

P.S. I'm old and get grouchy when I see a chart without a date/time-stamp and/or source. All that wasted bandwidth just to look pretty...

Edit: The same information on the CoCT site includes the capacity of each dam (they are not all equal).
www.capetown.gov.za

City of Cape Town Link

Sharing a City of Cape Town Page...
www.capetown.gov.za www.capetown.gov.za
 
Last edited:
Other DWS dam updates:
Clanwilliam Dam reached 100% late yesterday (Tues 12th). Was 30% on Monday morning.
The Berg River Dam has topped off at 76%, filling slowly from 74% at midday yesterday. Was 52% on Monday.
Theewaterskloof has topped at 69%, filling slowly from 66% at midday yesterday. Was 50% on Monday.
Voelvlei continues to rise, but slowly, since it is not in a river valley.
Multuple gauges are out of operation, probably flood damage.

Edit: The official CoCT update confirms the above numbers for Wed 13th. The total level for the Big 6 Dams rose by 28% from 51% to 69% in 48 hours. The volume of water is massive, equivalent to many months of normal inflow and/or usage.

Note: SAWS rainfall data for Mon 11th were never updated on their website.
 
Last edited:
1778655747410.png
The bodies of at least three people were recovered from flooded buildings on a farm along the Old N1 roadway between Worcester and Rawsonville on Tuesday. More than 20 people, farm workers and members of their families, were also rescued from the farm after reportedly being trapped on the roofs of buildings since Monday because of the rising waters caused by heavy rains. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon:
“Using ladders, the casualties, including babies, toddlers, children, adults, the elderly, as well as one blind man and one paraplegic man, and domestic animals, were evacuated to safety in relays, using the flotation of our rescue craft.
Our rescue crew worked tirelessly despite challenging conditions, often wading and swimming through barely accessible terrain and flooded areas.
Once out of harm’s way, safely on terra firma, they were taken into the care of the farmer.”
The NSRI says sadly they were unable to recover a number of farm and domestic animals, as well as wildlife, as the situation became increasingly dangerous for the crew. However, they are cautiously optimistic, in all hopes, that the animals survived as the waters subside.
[Pictures: NSRI]
 
akescpt said:
geez its bad over the mountain...the imagery must be crazy...
Click to expand...

The Berg River valley is fairly narrow, and the water flows relatively quickly. The Breede Valley is the opposite. Normally Worcester is in 'rain shadow' from the mountains, but when there is so much water, it accumulates in low-lying areas.
 
Yeah it's bad that side of the world. We have a factory in Wolseley and I haven't been able to make contact with the people there since yesterday morning. My colleagues in Worcester tried to drive there this morning, but had to turn around. Those who live in Ceres are completely cut off and haven't managed to get in touch with them since yesterday around 15:00. My one colleague had a pretty bad experience yesterday when he was driving over Michell's pass and a mudslide came down. In the end, to get from Wolseley to Ceres, he drove over Sir Lowry's and then up towards Touws River - took him most of the day yesterday.

Just saw they closing the N2 at Swellendam now as the water is close to coming over the bridge.
 
The SAEON site is back online (though only up to 23:57 on Tues 12th). For Dwarsberg it shows 197mm in 24 hours (up to midnight on Mon 11th). By contrast Sun 10th shows a modest 85mm. This is very close to the 200mm/day shown by the model forecasts. There is no total for Tues 12th (yet), Edit: 150mm. The cumulative 72 hour total was 433mm.

This mountain catchment area feeds both the Berg River and Theewaterskloof Dams, explaining the phenomenal increase in both. The annual average for Dwarsberg is 3000mm, so this is heavy, but not exceptional.

Edit: The SAEON Constantiaberg station shows 35mm, 55mm and 26mm for the same period. Orographic precupitation is influenced both by elevation, and the overall topography. Wind speeds were also higher on Mon 11th.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X