Latest run: Wed 07 Oct 14:00 SAST (12Z GFS) · forecast to Sat 10 Oct 14:00 SAST (72 h)
North-West University research forecast. Official weather warnings for South Africa come only from the SA Weather Service (SAWS).
A two-domain, two-way nested WRF-ARW forecast on a Lambert Conformal projection: a 9 km outer domain covers South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, fed directly from NCEP GFS at the lateral boundary; and a 3 km, convection-permitting nest covers North West province and Gauteng. Initialized from NCEP GFS (cycle 20261007_12z). This is a research forecast for demonstration and planning support. SAWS is the only body authorized to issue official weather warnings in South Africa.
For additional or custom WRF forecasts, contact Dr Henno Havenga, henno.havenga@nwu.ac.za.
| Domain | Resolution | Grid | Extent | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d02 (outer) | 9 km | 214x200 | 14.7-36.1E, 20.5-36.9S | South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini; fed directly from GFS |
| d03 (nest in d02) | 3 km | 246x156 | 21.9-29.4E, 23.6-27.9S | North West + Gauteng, convection-permitting |
| Model configuration | |
|---|---|
| Dynamical core | WRF-ARW v4.8.0, non-hydrostatic |
| Map projection | Lambert Conformal (truelat1/truelat2 -23.7/-34.0) |
| Microphysics | Thompson (mp_physics=6) |
| Cumulus | Kain-Fritsch (d02); off on d03 (3 km, convection resolved explicitly) |
| Longwave / shortwave radiation | RRTMG (ra_lw_physics=3 / ra_sw_physics=3) |
| Planetary boundary layer | YSU (bl_pbl_physics=1) |
| Surface layer | Revised MM5 Monin-Obukhov (sf_sfclay_physics=1) |
| Land surface | Unified Noah LSM (sf_surface_physics=2), 4 soil layers |
| Boundary/initial conditions | NCEP GFS 0.25deg, 3-hourly |
Interactive, zoomable maps over a street basemap. 9 km covers South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini; 3 km zooms into North West & Gauteng. Plain hour-by-hour images (no basemap, same time slider) are still available too -- see "Static images for current cycle" at the bottom of this page.
Products Developed as Part of the Maize Trust Early Warning For Farmers Project. Start with the town table (29 grain towns), or open a regional map:
Vertical profiles of temperature, dew point and wind above a town, from the surface to about 16 km: for thunderstorm, fire-weather and aviation forecasting. Pick a town:
Static images for current cycle -- the same 9 variables x 2 domains as plain PNG slider pages (no basemap, no pan/zoom), for anyone who'd rather not load Leaflet/OSM tiles.