The storm started dropping rain over seaside South Africa on April 9, 2022. In a news release provided on April 12, the South African Weather Service composed: “It appears that the extremely heavy rains overnight and this early morning exceeded even the expectations of the southern African meteorological neighborhood at big.”
The map above depicts a satellite-based quote of rainfall over a seven-day period ending on April 13, 2022. In some parts of KwaZulu-Natal, ground-based measurements showed rainfall going beyond 30 centimeters (12 inches) throughout a 24-hour duration covering April 11-12.
The storm started dropping rain over seaside South Africa on April 9, 2022. The rain continued for days, improved by moisture-laden air from the southern Indian ocean. Rain totals were particularly significant between April 11-12. In a news release issued on April 12, the South African Weather Service wrote: “It appears that the remarkably heavy rains overnight and this morning exceeded even the expectations of the southern African meteorological community at large.”
The map above illustrates a satellite-based price quote of rains over a seven-day period ending on April 13, 2022. The darkest reds reflect the greatest rains amounts, with some places in Botswana and South Africa getting as much as 30 centimeters (12 inches) or more.
In some parts of KwaZulu-Natal, ground-based measurements showed rainfall exceeding 30 centimeters (12 inches) during a 24-hour duration covering April 11-12. Preliminary information suggest that some of the provinces highest overalls were observed in Margate (31.1 centimeters/12.2 inches), Mount Edgecombe (30.7 centimeters/12.1 inches), and Durban North (30.1 centimeters/11.9 inches). According to report, it was the provinces heaviest single-day deluge in 60 years.
Flooding and landslides across KwaZulu-Natal ruined bridges, houses, and roads. At the Port of Durban, floodwaters swept away stacks of freight containers, and triggered enough damage to momentarily suspended port operations. According to the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Disaster Management, a minimum of 300 individuals have died.
Forecasters are requiring a break in heavy rain from April 14-15. By the weekend, nevertheless, they anticipate thunderstorms to bring more rain and perhaps additional flooding.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, utilizing IMERG information from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) at NASA/GSFC.
April 7– 13, 2022
In the KwaZulu-Natal seaside province, heavy rains spurred lethal flooding and landslides.
In April 2022, several days of unsettled weather condition brought massive amounts of rain to southern Africa. In KwaZulu-Natal, a province on the eastern coast of South Africa, the deluge stimulated lethal flooding and landslides.
The South African Weather Service highlighted that the storm was not a tropical cyclone– a type of storm that forms over warm tropical waters. Rather, the storm developed further from the equator, when an area of low pressure separated from the dominating westerly circulation of cold air and wandered north towards South Africa. Once separated from the westerlies, “cut-off lows” like this typically lose momentum and can get stuck in location for days. In South Africa, this happens usually throughout the southern hemispheres autumn, especially in April. Cut-off lows often produce severe weather.
