Is it or isn't it?

[0000DS]

Johannesburg - SA Weather Service forecasters have been fielding the same question over and over again over the past days - "When is it going to rain?"

Unfortunately, for rain lovers, the forecasters are the bearers of bad news.

"A whole host of people have asked us that question... from journalists to farmers to bricklayers," forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng told Sapa.

"There is no good news for us, especially not for the farmers. It does appear that it's quite silent in terms of rainfall."

The only province which seems to be in the Rain Queen's good books is KwaZulu-Natal, where "significant" rain has fallen.

"Over the interior, we still have to wait a little bit more for rainfall."

The rain that had fallen over the interior had not even been enough to wet the ground.

"I'm yet to see physically an area where the ground is wet," said Mofokeng.

Some rain had fallen in the central Free State, Mpumalanga highveld, southern Limpopo and southern areas around Johannesburg.

But most of the moisture evaporated before it reached the ground because of extremely dry layers in the atmosphere.

In Gauteng, it was going to become even hotter.

By Thursday and into the weekend, temperatures were expected to be in the low to mid-30°C.

"It is going to be hot... there is no good rainfall in the near future," said Mofokeng.

If it is any consolation, the question, "when is it going to rain", is undoubtedly a universal one. Type it in on the Google search engine, and results show that the question had been posed more than 58.3 million times on the internet.

- SAPA

[krazy_kameleon]

Doesn't the story go that it never rains before oom Paul Krugers verjaarsdag?

[Mud Dog]

We've had a couple of days of nice soaking drizzle (on and off since Saturday) .... Morte than welcome but not enough to be really significant.

[OOOOMS]

Clouds and humid....but no rain....

[ToyX4]

EK het my nog nooit regtig aan die voorspellers gesteur nie. Hulle sit baie keer die pot mis.

Die reen sal kom...... Dis naby....

[CasKru]

Ek reken ook binne die volgende 10 dae gaat ons lekker reen kry.... soveel so dat ons wens dit wil bietjie ophou :)

[OOOOMS]

Ek reken ook binne die volgende 10 dae gaat ons lekker reen kry.... soveel so dat ons wens dit wil bietjie ophou :)

Kom ons hoop so, dit moet sommer vir x2 weke aanmekaar reen

[Dorslandtrekker]

Ek gaan die naweek kamp. Dit gaan dan verseker reën.

Ek sal my rekening stuur.

Groetnis.

Frik

[0000DS]

Thunderstorm

The thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon moved over parts of Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounding areas.

In Sandton and Fourways, it rained heavily for about half an hour and in Aukland Park, it rained for several minutes.

SA Weather Service forecaster Mark Todd said the thunderstorm developed early on Thursday afternoon between the Vaal River and Johannesburg and moved in a north-easterly direction.

"The Mpumalanga highveld also got a bit of rain but it is still too early to say how much," said Todd.

On Friday and Saturday there is still a 30% chance of rain and thunderstorms in Gauteng.

Todd said, however, that the weather would pass quickly.

"We have issued a warning for a heatwave, which will lead to constant warm temperatures in Gauteng from Saturday to Tuesday."

During this heatwave, the mercury could rise to 35ºC in Pretoria and 33ºC in Johannesburg.

By Wednesday, temperatures would begin falling and the chances for proper rain would increase.

"From Wednesday, the chances are looking up for proper, substantial rain," he said.
Beeld