Archive photo for illustration purposes only. (Photo: AFP)
A cut-off low pressure system is currently located to the west of the country and is expected to move over the western interior on Thursday morning.
According to the weather service, this system is expected to bring scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms over the northern parts of the North West and the Northern Cape.
“A cut-off low pressure system is a slow-moving or stationary low pressure system that develops in the upper atmosphere, which can remain over an area for several days, and can often bring severe weather.”
The weather service has issued a yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms over the northern half of the Northern Cape, as well as the central and western parts of the North West and the northern Free State. These storms will be accompanied by strong winds that can cause damage, hail and heavy downpours, which can lead to flooding and damage to infrastructure.
Conditions are expected to worsen on Thursday, with widespread rainfall spreading to the Free State and the Eastern Cape, with as much as 90mm of rain possible in places in the areas.
An orange level 6 warning, together with a yellow level 4 warning for severe thunderstorms has been issued for most parts of the Northern Cape, North West and the Free State. Temperatures are also expected to drop in the provinces concerned.
The cutoff low pressure system will gradually move eastward and is expected to move away from the country by Friday. After that, conditions will begin to clear, with isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms in places across the North West, the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape until late afternoon.