Port Elizabeth swelters under hottest day in more than 50 years

If you felt Sunday was an unusually hot day in Port Elizabeth, you would be right.

SA Weather Service spokesperson in Port Elizabeth, Garth Sampson, said the mercury passed 40°C.

“The 40.2°C recorded yesterday [Sunday] in Port Elizabeth was the hottest in 55 years.

“It almost reached the record high of 40.7°C,” Sampson said in a statement.

Elsewhere in and around Nelson Mandela Bay, the temperature reached 40.6°C in Uitenhage, 43.9°C at Coega and 40.7°C in Addo.

The sweltering heat in Port Elizabeth was broken by a welcomed thunderstorm and rain on Sunday night.

“9mm of rain was measured overnight in Port Elizabeth and at Kareedouw, with 6mm measured at Joubertina,” Sampson said.

“Conditions will be cooler for today [Monday] and tomorrow [Tuesday] with a few spots of rain and will start warming again towards Wednesday and Thursday.”