The South African Weather Service (South African Weather Service) says the brief tornado that formed near Bishopstowe developed too quickly for any warning to be issued to residents.
Forecaster Nhlanhla Sithole said the weather system began as a weak storm shortly after 5pm on Sunday in a valley area before rapidly intensifying under conditions that favoured rotation.
He explained that the surrounding landscape played a key role in triggering the tornado’s formation.
“The beauty of our province can be attributed to the fact that valleys and escarpments are quite important for the development of tornado genesis, and in this instance that is exactly what happened,” Sithole said.
He added that the time between the storm forming and intensifying in the valley was less than 20 to 25 minutes, leaving little opportunity for forecasters to issue alerts.
“We do have radar that tracks storms, but the development of the tornado was quite rapid,” he said.
Although the exact duration is still being assessed, the tornado is believed to have been short-lived before dissipating.
The same weather system also brought heavy rain and strong winds to parts of eThekwini and Pietermaritzburg, resulting in fallen trees, flooded roads and damage to power infrastructure. No injuries have been reported.
Sithole said that while the storms were separate cells, they shared similar characteristics, including slow movement, which contributed to heavy rainfall over concentrated areas.
“They were quite slow-moving, and that results in lots of rainfall over the same area, which can lead to localised flooding. It’s not unusual weather, just impactful due to its persistence,” he said.