Gauteng cold spell to blow over by weekend

It really seemed that when SouthAfricans went to bed on Sunday evening they woke up to an extended lockdown, looting and a cold front that has Gautengers paranoid about what to expect next.

The week kicked off with a bang with the level 4 lockdown regulations being extended, followed by violent outbreaks of looting over parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Next followed an intense cold front which saw temperatures in parts of the country dropping to zero degrees and below.

There however was light at the end of the tunnel as South Africans look forward to some sunshine despite the cold experienced over the country mid-week.

South African Weather Service forecaster Mdavhi Naliage said yesterday the current cold experienced over parts of Gauteng and the Free State will blow over by the weekend.

On Tuesday and last night, parts of the Free State such as Bloemfontein dropped as low as -8ºC and rose to a maximum temperature of only 11ºC. Upington in the Northern Cape was not far behind with a minimum temperature of -5ºC and a maximum of 13ºC.

Johannesburg and Pretoria will move from the sub-zero temperatures up to 2ºC and 3ºC to a mild 14ºC and 16ºC maximum temperatures going into the weekend.

“There was a bit of cloud observed over the Western Cape but we are not expecting any rain,” Naliage said.

She said despite the extremely cold weather experienced yesterday, the very low minimum temperatures were expected to gradually pick up from tomorrow. Naliage said the worse of the weather has passed.

“There is just a possibility of light rain on Saturday along with southwestern coastal areas of the Western Cape,” Naliage said.

She said the temperatures experienced yesterday were the worse for the week and with a gradual increase in temperatures expected towards the weekend.

“All we see now is the last bit of snow over the Lesotho mountains and the Western Cape but there is no snow predicted for the next couple of days.”

– Additional reporting by News24Wire