Ermelo and Piet Retief in Mpumalanga were hit by a tornado on Friday.
However, Vanetia Phakula, a predictor of the South African Weather Service, cannot confirm whether this phenomenon was a tornado.
Phakula says a warning was issued for heavy thunderstorms, strong winds and hail for Friday and as a result, she can confirm that a tornado was possible.
Other parts of the country such as KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, and the Eastern Cape were also plagued by tornadoes last year.
The SA Weather Twitter released a video on Friday.
Amazing video sent to us by Charlené Janssens-Kotzé of the tornado in Panbult (between Ermelo and Piet Retief) in South Africa yesterday evening. Charlené says the tornado started at 18:16 (3 January 2020)#Tornado #SouthAfrica #Panbult @StormWatchSA @ReedTimmerAccu pic.twitter.com/PxZDzuKxSs
— SA Weather?️sawx.co.za (@sawx_sa_weather) January 4, 2020
Damage as seen from the air from the Tornado in Panbult (between Ermelo and Piet Retief) yesterday taken by Hans Gerken. My estimate is that this tornado was an EF3 with parts of the forest that were completely flattened. It was also very large in diameter. @ReedTimmerAccu pic.twitter.com/SAVfoXyx3l
— Storm Report SA (@StormReportSA1) January 4, 2020
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