SAWS confirms a tornado struck Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal on Friday night

tropical cyclone belna cape town rain cold front, utrecht tornado

Another tornado on Friday struck the KwaZulu-Natal town of Utrecht, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) confirmed.

In two statements posted to Twitter, the service noted that the weather phenomenon occurred on Friday evening.

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SAWS explained that the tornado spawned from a “severe storm” that developed between Newcastle and Dundee. While it weakened as it changed course and moved towards Utrecht, it strengthened once again.

“Spectific radar signatures suggested that tornadic activity was present,” SAWS added.

It also posted images from local publication Newcastle Advertiser showing destruction to property.

According to the Advertiser, “barbed wire, branches, trees and more” are scattered across the town. The images also depict damaged cars and houses.

More footage published by Arrive Alive on Saturday morning also shows the extent of the damage.

The Utrecht tornado comes just weeks after tornadoes struck other areas near New Hanover and Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal.

Earlier this week, SAWS issued a release regarding phenomena that many believed were tornadoes, seen near Bapsfontein, Gauteng and Delmas, Mpumalanga.

It confirmed that these were merely “gustnadoes”, a type of dust devil-like whirlwind.

Follow the South African Weather Service

Weather is fickle and subject to change, so we’d recommend following SAWS on its official Twitter account, especially for severe thunderstorm updates.

And be sure to bookmark its warnings portal too, where it regularly updates the advisories and more serious information on the daily.

Edit: We’ve updated the article with the latest information provided by SAWS.

Feature image: Andy Walker/Memeburn

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