Is there a weather warning?

Live South African Weather Service warnings for the City of Johannesburg — thunderstorms, flooding, wind — with the current wind over Soweto and what to do when a storm hits.

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Soweto's storm season runs October to March: Highveld thunderstorms bring hail, lightning and flash floods along the Klipspruit — worst in low-lying Kliptown, where flooding is a recurring, deadly summer pattern. This page shows the South African Weather Service's live warnings for the City of Johannesburg, with the current wind over Soweto.

No weather warnings for the City of Johannesburg right now.

The South African Weather Service has no warnings in force for the City of Johannesburg, as of Fri 10 July at 0:22.

The wind at central Soweto

Light air (about 4 km/h, gusts to 11), out of the south-southwest.

Strongest gusts forecast over the next 24 hours: about 21 km/h. Wind words follow the Beaufort scale. This is a weather model’s forecast for the hour, not a measurement — exposed ground above town will see more.

When a storm hits

A weather warning tells you what the sky may do — these are the channels for what to do about it. For flooding or any life-threatening emergency call Joburg's emergency line; the city closes Klipspruit Valley Road when the river rises. Water and power outages after a storm belong to Johannesburg Water and Eskom, not to this page.

Where to check, before and during

SAWS — official warnings and forecastsThe South African Weather Service is the only body that issues weather warnings in South Africa
Joburg emergency services — 011 375 5911 (or 112 from a cellphone)Ambulance, fire, JMPD — including flood rescue
Johannesburg Water — daily noticesOutages and repairs after storm damage

Worth knowing

The Klipspruit floods

The Klip River and its tributary the Klipspruit drain Soweto through one of Gauteng's largest wetland systems, and summer storms push them over their banks — around 400 households were inundated in Kliptown in 2022, and a teenager drowned there in November 2023. If you live along the Klipspruit, treat a severe-thunderstorm warning as a reason to move valuables up and stay clear of low crossings.

Winter is the quiet season — mostly

Highveld winters are dry, so weeks with no warnings are normal from May to September. The risks that remain are cold snaps and wind-driven fires, and SAWS warns for those too when they threaten.

Warning data: issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), via the WMO Severe Weather Information Centre (severeweather.wmo.int), which republishes SAWS’s official CAP alert feed. Warnings are shown as SAWS issues them, unaltered; this page reads the alerts whose official area covers the City of Johannesburg. Wind forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). This page is not an alert service — sign up to the official channels above.