Cold front brings snow, rain
LANDFALL TODAY: FLOODS, GALE-FORCE WINDS
Snow is expected over the Cape provinces, says SA Weather Service.
Residents, particularly those in the Cape provinces, can expect chilly, windy and wet conditions in the days ahead as a well-developed cold front makes landfall over the southwestern parts of the country this morning, followed by a second cold front soon thereafter.
Localised flooding, gale-force winds and high sea conditions are some of the extreme winter weather phenomena expected from this system, the SA Weather Service said yesterday.
While snowfalls can be expected over the higher mountains of the Cape provinces, numeric prediction models strongly suggest that such falls will mostly be of a light, nondisruptive nature.
The first cold front will result in strong to gale-force (60-75km/h) prefrontal northwesterly winds over the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape provinces and along the coast between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas, spreading to Plettenberg Bay by evening.
Heavy rain is also expected to set in over the high-lying areas of the southwestern parts of the Western Cape from today, leading to possible localised flooding over the Cape metropole, the mountainous areas of the Cape Winelands and Overberg from tomorrow into Saturday.
It will spread eastwards on
Saturday with light, nondisruptive snow expected on the mountainous areas of the Western Cape and southern high grounds of the Northern Cape, spreading to the high grounds of the Eastern Cape and Lesotho from Saturday morning into Sunday afternoon.
A high of 20ºC is predicted for Johannesburg today, 19ºC for tomorrow, 13ºC for Saturday, 16ºC for Sunday and Monday is expected to reach a high of 16ºC, with a low of 1ºC.
Pretoria is predicted to hit 22ºC tomorrow with a high of 15ºC and a low of 0ºC on Sunday.
A significant drop in daytime temperatures will be experienced over the remainder of the interior on Saturday as this frontal system moves eastwards and exits the country along the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal by Sunday with isolated to scattered rain and showers spreading over KwaZulu-Natal.
Strong northwesterly winds over much of the southern and central interior will lead to a widespread risk of runaway fires today and tomorrow.
The effects of the cold frontal systems are also expected to be seen in the general sea state.
There will be high to very high seas and wave heights of between six to eight metres were expected between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas this afternoon into the evening.
These will subside partially from tomorrow morning but picking up late tomorrow evening between Alexander Bay and Cape Agulhas into early Saturday morning.
Snow, mostly light, may result in localised traffic disruption due to icy roads and railway lines at higher elevations. Some minor inaccessibility could occur for drinking water to rural areas.
Farmers of small stock are strongly urged to lead animals to adequate shelter well before inclement weather sets in to ensure that stock losses are avoided or mitigated in icy, snowy conditions at higher altitudes and in the mountains of affected provinces.