Rain in Johannesburg, drought in Cape Town: SA’s weather according to social media

johannesburg Francisco Anzola flickr

As boring as it might seem, the weather has been a massive talking point for South Africans in 2017. And no, it’s not because 55-million of us are awkwardly engaging in small talk. With Cyclone Dineo passing over the country’s extreme north this week (social media had plenty to say about her), we also have Johannesburg and Cape Town on two extreme ends of the rainfall spectrum.

Although Johannesburg is a summer rainfall region, the city is experiencing quite a bit this week with the SA Weather Service issuing warnings of possible floods in Gauteng.

Cape Town, on the other hand, has just over 100 days of usable water left in its dams. The city’s dam levels are also the lowest they’ve been in three decades.

Johannesburg’s getting lots of rain today

Some just wish that Jozi’s rain would holiday down south.

Some just can’t help but tease thirsty Capetonians.

Dear Cape Town, Another lovely rainy day in Johannesburg #capetown #johanessburg #rain

A post shared by Khaliq (@khaliqdza) on

And who can resist a good meme?

The Vaal Dam is filling up nicely, but so are Johannesburg’s roads.

This is Witkoppen Road.

This is River Road, Bryanston.

Braamfontein Spruit is also bursting its banks ever so slightly.

Even Pretoria is joining in. This is Akasia, in the city’s northern suburbs.

Cape Town’s running out of water

As for Cape Town, well, the city’s experiencing yet another scorcher today, with highs in the low 30s.

These snaps of Cape Town’s largest dam Theewaterskloof, were taken this weekend.

There were also a number of veld fires reported across the greater peninsula, including Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay, Banhook in Stellenbosch, and Rhodes Memorial on the slopes of Devil’s Peak.

There’s no indication of when rain will fall in Cape Town. Long-term forecasts suggest that no rain is in sight for the rest of the month. Johannesburg might only get a break from the wet weather on Sunday.

Feature image: Francisco Anzola via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)

Andy Walker, former editor
More

News

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights. sign up

Welcome to Memeburn

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights.