weather warning

Tomorrow

Posted on May 10, 2026May 10, 2026

Today hasn’t been that bad.

But tomorrow looks rather ominous.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued an Orange Level 8 weather warning for disruptive rainfall in the Western Cape.

Level 8 indicates “Severe” impact, and yes, Mother Nature is throwing everything at us all at once: big waves, big winds, and a lot of rain.

The Garden Route was hit by an Orange Level 8 last week, and… well…

It didn’t end well.

While many schools in the Winelands are closed tomorrow, ours in Cape Town go ahead unless we hear differently overnight.

We’re as ready as we can be.

I have an umbrella.

Let’s see what happens.

With Cape Town allegedly desperate for rain (except we’re only comparing the dam levels this year with those from last year which followed the wettest winter on record), Cape Town is going to get some rain.

Quite a bit of rain.

Time to light the fire, grab some red wine, slow cook a beef casserole and hide under a duvet.

Not all at the same time, obviously. Incredibly foolish idea. Mess everywhere.

But it is probably best to just check that your gutters are all clear in tomorrow’s balmy 19^oC before Friday hits.

~~This~~ ~~isn’t~~ the first big storm of the season: it’s not even a proper cold front. But actually, the lack of wind (8kph SW) does mean that once the rain arrives, it’s not going to go away very quickly, and thus will keep falling on the same bit of South Africa (Cape Town) all day.

Edit: It is. Forecast updated. Wet and windy.

Don’t say that you weren’t warned.

Yellow warning

Posted on February 8, 2026February 9, 2026

There’s a yellow warning out for potential severe thunderstorms and heavy rain over Cape Town and parts of the Western Cape tonight, and I couldn’t be happier. Everything is dry and brown and so very DUSTY.

Not only do we need some rain to alleviate the drought that we’ve been suffering, we need some rain just to give the place a nice clean.

It’s not a huge warning for Cape Town, but they have gone with “High Likelihood”, which is great news. No-one wants floods and stuff; just enough to wash away all the grime. But it must happen, please.

However, we’re looking at a different picture down in Cape Agulhas, where they’re playing with “High Likelihood” and “Significant Impact”. And no-one has forgotten the horrific floods of September 2023 (that one when Juan was a bit of a twat). They could do with the rain, but no repeat of those scenes.

I’ve checked our gutters are clear (and so should you), and I’ll be lobbing some fertiliser on the garden before bed tonight: might as well make the most of the opportunity.

But right now, with the sun still beaming in the cloudless sky, I’m going to watch some footy before the weekend is – once again, all too quickly – over.