{"id":624353,"date":"2026-01-08T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=624353"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:02:06","slug":"tornado-alert-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/science\/624353-tornado-alert-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Tornado alert in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has advised that increased thunderstorms and heavy winds during the summer could lead to further tornado activity over the next few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two tornadoes recently formed in Mpumalanga on New Year’s Day, one to the north-east of Middelburg and the other in an area near Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No fatalities were reported as a result of the devastating wind funnels, but trees were knocked over, telecommunications lines were broken, and farming activity was disrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two more tornadoes were recorded on video in farmlands near Heilbron in the Free State<\/a> and Harrismith in KwaZulu-Natal<\/a> in November 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While much rarer than in countries like the US, tornadoes have killed or injured dozens of South Africans in the past 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst in terms of loss of life was an F4 category tornado in Mount Ayliff with wind speeds between 333km\/h and 420km\/h, which killed 25 people and injured 500 others on 18 January 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, an EF3 tornado with speeds between 218km\/h and 266km\/h in Tongaat in June 2024 killed 11 people and injured 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a podcast<\/a> published on 7 January 2026, the SAWS’ senior forecaster and tornado expert, Puseletso Mofokeng, explained that an average of three to four tornadoes were detected in South Africa annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, insurers have cautioned<\/a> that climate change was making strong winds and wind funnels, including tornadoes, more common in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mofokeng acknowledged that occurrences may be underreported due to the short-lived nature of tornadoes in the country and the historical lack of high-frequency satellite data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newer technology, such as the 10-minute satellite updates implemented by Eumetsat in late 2024, is enhancing the ability to detect and study these events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the peak period of tornado activity was typically in the mid-summer months from November to January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tornadoes are more likely to form in thunderstorm supercells, characterised by high levels of moisture and heat. The SAWS is expecting above-normal temperatures throughout the summer season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotspot areas and protective measures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tornadoes near Heilbron (left) and Harrismith (right) in November 2025. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mofokeng said that South Africa’s “real” tornadoes typically had speeds between 200km\/h and 300km\/h. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Those which are beyond 300km\/h to 500km\/h have not been what we observe here in South Africa,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Highveld and the escarpment have conditions favourable for forming tornadoes. “The reason is you would have the high topography or significantly high topography like mountains,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is the mountains that deviate one storm into the path of another, and once they connect, they then produce a tornado,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Mpumalanga and the Free State, the escarpment includes the interior of KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These are the provinces that have a lot of tornadoes. There are some in the North West, but they are not as many.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Mofokeng said that tornadoes were increasingly occurring closer to the coast and in the Lowveld. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mofokeng advised South Africans confronted with a tornado to take shelter in a small room, like a bathroom, if a bunker or underground basement was not available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where not available, hiding inside a heavy wardrobe with its open doors against the ground or underneath a heavy bed could also provide protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who missed out on a storm warning, one sign to look out for is when two large cloud formations are moving towards each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You need to make sure by all means that you are out of that spot because that’s where the wind is going to be very strong,” Mofokeng said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multiple tornadoes have been reported in South Africa in the last three months and the country’s weather service predicts more could form through the remaining summer months. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":624376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31750],"tags":[102791,25029,99312,99313],"class_list":["post-624353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-puseletso-mofokeng","tag-south-african-weather-service-saws","tag-storms","tag-tornadoes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624353"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624396,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624353\/revisions\/624396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}