The South African Weather Service (SAWS) confirmed in a statement issued this morning that two tornadoes raged in the Middelburg and Carolina area over the past week. Middelburg Observerreportsthat there was initially doubt as to whetherthe damage caused to the Van Wyk farm was indeed caused by a tornado. After SAWS studied photos and videos posted onMiddelburg Observer’swebsite, it confirmed that a tornado hit the area.
In a statement, SAWS acknowledged theMiddelburg Observer’scontribution to solving the mystery. According to the press statement issued on January 1, two short-lived tornadoes were reported across the eastern Highveld of Mpumalanga – one just to the north-east of Middelburg, and the other one near Carolina. Although no loss of life was reported, damage to property was observed.
The two phenomena occurred amid widespread severe thunderstorm activity. Just as the issuing of weather forecasts and, where necessary, severe weather warnings is the responsibility of the SAWS, so is the occasional assessment of weather impacts to damaged property and infrastructure. “On Friday, January 2, the SAWS assessed the damage to property in the north-eastern area of Middelburg in the aftermath of the tornado.
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This was despite communication challenges, with internet connectivity unavailable. Locals suspected that the communication challenges were the direct result of the severe thunderstorm that hit the area the previous day, as seen in Figure 1 below. “Restricted access to several private farms in the area prevented a full survey of damage to property.
However, damaged and rusted communication lines on one side of the Stoffberg road and extricated tree branches on the other side suggested that tornadoes might be underreported in the area. “Eyewitness accounts and limited ground observations indicated that strong winds and particularly large hail were observed just before and soon after 18:00 on the day. One eyewitness reported observing a funnel-like feature below the cloud near the Stoffberg road (circled stretch of R555 road in Figure 2).
“During their journey back home, workers from nearby farms faced severe weather, including a high frequency of thunderstorm lightning. As a result, hiding spots were sought in the nearby settlements. “Desktop analyses of Eumetsat satellite images of the late afternoon of New Year’s Day over the northern Highveld of Mpumalanga showed signs of a rotating thunderstorm between 17:40 and 17:50, albeit with gaps of nine minutes before each subsequent image.
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