Weather forecasting helps people plan their day, from choosing what to wear to making travel decisions.
But it’s also critical for businesses farmers depend on forecasts for planting and harvesting, construction projects rely on them for safe scheduling, and logistics companies adjust routes to avoid weather delays.
In the bigger picture, accurate forecasts help reduce risks, improve safety and optimise operations across industries.
Weather forecasts are also tremendously important because severe weather events like floods, tornadoes and lightning storms can damage infrastructure and are also life-threatening.
Vox Weather is South Africa’s first independent digital weather platform, delivering real-time, hyperlocal forecasts via social media and its website. Vox Weather Meteorologist Annette Botha notes: “We make weather updates engaging and accessible, and with over 400,000 followers, we’re reaching more people than ever.
“Our goal is simple: to keep the public informed with accurate, informative and timely weather insights. At the same time, because our platform is powered through social media, it gives us as a team the ability to listen to, and engage with, our audience, which in turn offers unique opportunities to share information about the weather.”
In this article, we look at how weather forecasts help South African individuals and businesses to go about their daily lives more safely and efficiently.
The Business of Weather Reports
Weather reports are brought to us by meteorologists, who are highly skilled, specialist professionals in their field. In South Africa, meteorologists complete a BSc in Meteorology (three years) and an Honours degree (one year). The University of Pretoria (UPS) is the only educational institution in South Africa that offers this qualification.
Botha’s colleague, fellow Vox Weather Meteorologist Michelle Cordier – who herself was the top Honours student in Meteorology during her Honours degree year at UPS – explains: “The studies include physics, mathematics, geographic information systems (GIS), and meteorology modules. Many meteorologists then specialise in areas like severe weather or climate change, and gain hands-on experience through internships and training.”
But where do these two highly-trained professionals get their actual data from, in order to bring us their detailed weather forecasts?
Botha clarifies: “We pull data from multiple sources—satellites, radars, weather stations and even high-altitude weather balloons. We also use global weather models and international meteorological databases. In South Africa, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) is a key provider of local weather data.”
Weather Warnings and People’s Safety
Early warnings give people time to prepare – whether staying indoors, moving vehicles under cover in the event of a cloudburst or hailstorm, securing their property, or even evacuating the area. Without timely updates, communities are left vulnerable, increasing the risk of damage, injuries and loss of life.
Extreme weather events in South Africa recently included the tornado sightings in KwaZulu-Natal in mid-2024, as well as the unusually heavy snowfalls in certain places in 2023 and 2024 – all of which are potentially life-threatening.
South Africa has also experienced its share of longer-lasting extreme climate events, including the drought in Cape Town from 2015 to 2018, the storms in Durban in July 2022, and the Eastern Cape drought, which started in 2015 and was followed by flooding in early January 2022. Globally, the world in recent years has seen floods in Kenya and Pakistan, extreme wildfires in Australia and California, and droughts in Zimbabwe and Mexico, to name but a few examples.
Figure 2: Images that circulated on social media of the rope tornado near Utrcht (left) and the wedge tornado near Tongaat (right). Source: Facebook, Unknown
How Weather Forecasting Assists Industries
Extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rain or excessive heat, can cause problems for different industries in different ways. For example, heavy rain and hail stones can cause flooding, damaging buildings, equipment and vehicles, while floodwaters can disrupt transportation and make it difficult for employees to get to work. Prolonged heatwaves can affect the health and safety of construction workers outdoors, or increase the use of air conditioning systems, leading to higher energy costs.
There are many ways in which weather forecasting benefits industries, including the following:
- Agriculture: Farmers rely on forecasts for planting, irrigation and harvesting decisions
- Insurance: Weather alerts help clients take preventive measures, while historical data helps insurers verify claims and reduce fraud.
- Transport and Logistics: Road, air, rail and sea transport systems adjust routes based on weather updates to avoid delays and safety risks.
- Construction: Weather forecasts help schedule outdoor work and keep workers safe from hazards like lightning.
- Mining: Open-cast mines need to prepare for storms, while underground mines must be cautious of lightning-induced surges or gas ignitions.
- Other industries: Tourism, energy, and retail are also affected – weather affects travel, power generation, and even shopping trends!
Introducing the Tornado Twister: Changing Weather Tracking in SA
The Tornado Twister weather station is transforming weather tracking by allowing all South Africans to contribute real-time, hyper-local data to the Vox Weather network. This means more accurate forecasts and a better understanding of local conditions. But it’s also a game-changer for individuals.- Farmers can track rainfall, frost and wind for better planning.
- Gardeners and greenhouse owners can monitor temperature and humidity for optimal growing conditions.
- Business managers in construction, event planning and transport (to name just a few) can make smarter weather-based decisions.
- Sports enthusiasts can plan their exercise schedules for optimum safety and comfort.
- Weather followers can stay informed with precise, on-site data.
Botha explains: “With a Tornado Twister, you’re not just checking the weather – you’re shaping the forecast! And the Tornado Twister network is expanding fast within the Vox Weather community – more people are joining all the time, which means more real-time data from different regions, making our forecasts even more accurate and useful.”
“We’ve also just partnered with the University of Cape Town and Oxford,” adds Cordier, “and are rolling out 25 stations across the Kalahari to track dry lines, which are key areas where thunderstorms are likely to develop. This collaboration is a huge step in understanding severe weather patterns and improving forecasting for these remote regions.”
The network provides significant detail to the Vox Weather community, as the stations measure real-time temperature, humidity, wind speed and rainfall, helping the meteorologists to refine their forecasts, identify weather patterns and issue timely warnings.
Cordier notes that this detailed, real-time data translates into more accurate and localised forecasts for everyone: “Whether it’s a farmer needing to protect crops or a family planning a road trip, the more data we have, the better we can help people prepare for changing weather conditions.”
Botha concludes: “With climate change bringing more frequent and extreme weather events, platforms like Vox Weather are becoming even more important.
Our mission isn’t just about forecasts-it’s about helping people stay safe, prepared, and informed every single day.”