S’no joke… brace yourself for some chilly weather, light snowfalls

South Africans can expect a cold snap from tomorrow onwards

THE Western Cape has been warned to brace for some chilly weather, with snow expected to fall in parts of the province from tonight.

Snow Report SA says the first snowfalls in the western parts of the province are expected late tonight and, by tomorrow morning, light snow should have fallen across all the high peaks in the Western Cape, with some light falls also possible in the Sutherland area of the Northern Cape.

By lunch-time tomorrow, snowfalls are expected to extend into the Eastern Cape, and by tomorrow night should extend right through to the Eastern Cape Drakensberg and also into the southern parts of the Northern Cape.

Weather SA senior forecaster Kate Turner confirmed that the province is expected to see some snowfall in high-lying areas and mountain peaks.

Weather SA chief forecaster Ezekiel Sebego said South Africans can expect a cold snap which would affect the country from tomorrow onwards.

“Particularly cold daytime temperatures are expected to dominate the south-western parts on Wednesday, spreading to include the central and eastern parts on Thursday.

“Some places in the highlying central and eastern interior are likely to experience daytime temperatures of the order of only 5 to 10°C for up to three consecutive days,” Sebego said.

Significant snowfall can also be expected over the southern and central Drakensberg, he said.

Snowfall could be heavy over the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape, possibly leading to the closure of the majority of mountain passes in the region as well as associated disruption of traffic flow.

By Thursday, rainfall is expected to move eastwards, with the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal particularly well-favoured to receive widespread rainfall.

Along much of the southern coastline, periods of strong, gusty winds combined with moderate seas are expected.

By Friday, this weather system is expected to exit the country.

Meanwhile, the City says dam storage levels are currently at 31.1%, with useable water at approximately 21.1%. Collective consumption for the past week was 610 million litres per day. This is 110m litres above the target of 500m litres per day.

Pressure adjustments on bulk supply lines have helped to reduce consumption over recent months, and the City hopes that significant further reductions could be achieved if residents also reduce flow through the private-side isolating valve. From this week, the City will lower the water pressure in its reticulation network to about 2 bars at the critical control points in the various supply zones across the metro.