The South African Weather Service (Saws) issued a very cold, wet, and windy weather warning for the Western and Northern Cape on Thursday heading into the weekend.
According to the advisory, which will come to effect on Friday from 10:00, 12 August until 14 August at midnight, the maximum temperature will be below 12C from Friday evening.
Saturday is expected to be the coldest day, while Sunday is expected to have the coldest morning, said Saws.
“The public and small stock farmers should be advised that loss of vulnerable livestock and crops cane be expected due to the combination of very cold, windy, and wet conditions. The weak and frail may also be vulnerable, since their bodies won’t be able to retain heat so easily,” it said.
According to Vox Weather, three cold fronts are expected to hit, with the first currently moving over the south-west coast, spreading light rain over the peninsula, Cape Town, and coastal towns.
The second strongest cold front arrives on Friday morning to bring scattered showers and cold conditions to the Western Cape and Southern Cape.
The third cold front is set to make landing on Saturday afternoon. “Together with a surface through extending over the west, showers are expected to continue throughout Saturday into Sunday. Models are indicating more than 50mm of rain expected to fall over parts of the winelands and mountainous areas of the Western Cape,” said Vox weather
Cooler conditions are expected to spread across Gauteng this weekend, with a significant drop in temperature reaching Gauteng on Sunday.
“Snow is also expected this weekend over the mountainous areas of the Western, Eastern Cape, in Sutherland and Lesotho,” Vox Weather said.
Affected areas include:
- Hantam
- Calvinia
- Karoo Hoogland
- Sutherland
- Beaufort West
- Witzenberg
- Ceres
- Laingsburg
- Prince Albert
Source: The South African, IOL, Vox Weather, image from The South African
