‘Absolutely giant storm’ set to hit Cape Town

Storm Report SA has warned the Mother City to brace for a “strong” cold front that will hit its shores by Wednesday next week.

“This cold front will be bringing much-needed rain over the drought-stricken areas of the Western and Northern Cape.

“Current weather models suggest that some places could see as much as 80mm of rain, with most rain expected over the southwestern parts of the Western Cape and the extreme western parts of the Northern Cape. Snowfall is also expected over most high peaks of the Western Cape, with moderate to heavy falls over Matroosberg and the extreme high peak.

“We also expect the tail end of another cold front to hit the Western Cape on Sunday, also bringing with it some light to moderate rainfall.”

Storm Report SA said the forecast, however, was subject to change, as this was a long-range forecast. A snowfall forecast would also be sent out.

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Surf forecaster Steve Pike of Wavescape told TimesLive on Friday: “Two storms have set SA in their sights: a little one warms us up‚ so to speak‚ before the mother of a purple monster slams into the Mother City on Tuesday.

“An absolutely giant storm and swell is due to smash into Cape Town [on] Tuesday evening and Wednesday‚ with heavy and consistent rain over a 24-hour period.”

Dam levels in the drought-stricken province had dropped to 18%, local government, environmental affairs and planning MEC Anton Bredell said on Monday.

“According to the latest data available, most major dams in the Western Cape, including the Voëlvlei dam [currently 14.7 percent full], the Theewaterskloof dam [13.4 percent full] and the Clanwilliam Dam [6 percent] are struggling,” Bredell told ANA.

He stressed that the drought in the province, which was declared a regional disaster last week, remained of serious concern.