‘Storm Baron’ is false and should be regarded as hoax – SAWS

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has rejected claims of a ‘Storm Baron’ that is allegedly expected to affect southern Africa from this Saturday, January 10. In a statement, SAWS said there is currently no tropical cyclone activity over the south-western Indian Ocean, and no officially recognised storm namedBaron, reported theZululand Observer. It has, however, warned that an intense low-pressure system is expected to develop over the southern parts of Mozambique in the coming days.

“This system is forecast to then move further south and is expected to bring widespread showers and thunderstorms to the north-eastern parts of [South Africa] from early morning Saturday, January 10, persisting until Thursday, January 15,” SAWS said. Areas most likely to be affected include the escarpment and lowveld areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as well as north-eastern KZN. “It must be noted that, at present, there remains significant uncertainty regarding the exact placement of the core of the system, which directly influences where the heaviest rainfall is expected,” SAWS said.

SAWS said while several numerical weather prediction models place the system’s core to the east of South Africa, over southern Mozambique, there are those models that indicate it could track much closer to the country. “The first scenario would result in relatively lower rainfall amounts, while the second would mean very high amounts, potentially totalling several hundreds of millimetres in some places,” the weather service warned, adding that it is monitoring the situation. Breaking news at your fingertips…Follow Caxton Network News onFacebookand join ourWhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak.Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus opFacebooken sluit aan by onsWhatsApp-kanaal.