Kalahari Desert ice

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PHOTOS Kalahari Dunes Covered with Ice!

An intense hail storm on farms in the vicinity of Uhlenhorst in the Kalahari Desert last week, to the south-east of Rehoboth, covered a large swathe of land with a thick layer of ice and turned the countryside into an instant winter wonderland… writes Niël Terblanché from Informanté. The huge amount of falling ice flayed […]

An intense hail storm on farms in the vicinity of Uhlenhorst in the Kalahari Desert last week, to the south-east of Rehoboth, covered a large swathe of land with a thick layer of ice and turned the countryside into an instant winter wonderland… writes Niël Terblanché from Informanté.

kalahari desert dunes covered ice

The huge amount of falling ice flayed the leaves off of bushes in the veldt but no substantial damage was reported to infrastructure or crops on the farms.

The hailstorm was accompanied by an electric storm that reached the Auas mountain range just south of Windhoek which made for a spectacular lightning show Saturday evening.

kalahari desert dunes covered ice
SPECTACULAR RAIN: A thick layer of hail covers the ground on farms near Uhlenhorst

Residents of the Regenstein satellite residential area on the mountain range measured between rains that ranged between 30 and 82 millimetres.

People living in the Kleine Kuppe residential area of the capital measured up to 40 millimetres of rain. Other parts of the city also received heavy downpours which ranged between 18 and 35 millimetres.

kalahari desert dunes covered icekalahari desert dunes covered iceTo the east of the capital residents of the satellite residential area of Finkenstein also measured downpours ranging between 18 and 25 millimetres while people staying on the smallholdings at Kapps Farm measured up to 35 millimetres.

kalahari desert dunes covered ice

Further east residents of Gobabis and surrounding farms received rain that measured between six and 25 millimetres.

Heavy downpours also occurred to the north of the capital where up to 20 millimetres of rain was measured on farms surrounding the town.

kalahari desert dunes covered iceFurther north and to the west residents and farmers around towns like Outjo, Otjiwarongo and Omaruru also reported rain measuring form eight to 25 millimetres. A farmer in the area of the B2 Gold Mine measured 13 millimetres of rain.

The weather system that brought the sudden build-up of thundershowers late in the rainy season lingered over the central northeastern parts of Namibia. The system stretched into Botswana where isolated thundershowers were also reported.

Clouds building up over Windhoek
Clouds building up over Windhoek
Lightning from an electric storm just south of Windhoek
Lightning from an electric storm just south of Windhoek
Clouds building up at Omaruru
Clouds building up at Omaruru
Stormwater in lower laying areas of the Auas mountains just south of Windhoek
Stormwater in lower laying areas of the Auas mountains just south of Windhoek

Photos: Various contributors to the Reën in Namibia Facebook Page

This article first appeared on Informanté’s Facebook page here, and is republished with kind permission of Niël Terblanché. Follow Informanté on FB or visit their website here