Cape provinces and Gauteng warned to brace for strong cold fronts

Capetonians have been warned to brace for a strong cold front expected to hit their province this weekend.

The South African Weather Service (Saws) said heavy rainfall, very cold conditions, rough seas, snow, and strong to gale force winds are expected over parts of the Cape provinces as a strong cold front makes landfall on Friday evening, 28 July, along the west coast of the country.

“On Saturday, 29 July, a cut-off low rapidly develops over the Western Cape further exacerbating weather conditions.

“Although the Cape provinces will experience the brunt of these conditions, the central and eastern parts of the country will also experience cold to very cold conditions from Saturday evening into Sunday,” Saws said.

Snow

Saws said snowfall is also expected across interior mountain ranges of the Western Cape, the western and southern high ground of the Northern Cape and the high ground of the Eastern Cape from Saturday into Sunday.

“This may extend into the Drakensberg region of KwaZulu-Natal and the extreme southern parts of the Free State on Sunday.

“Disruptive snowfall can be expected over the interior high ground of the Western Cape, the northern and central high ground of the Eastern Cape and the southern high ground of the Northern Cape on Saturday into Sunday, which may lead to loss of livestock, closure of mountain passes and result in some communities to be temporarily inaccessible,” it said.

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Warmer conditions

Saws said the weather systems are expected to weaken significantly on Sunday while exiting over the south-eastern parts of the country, causing weather conditions to improve mainly from Sunday evening into Monday.

“However, heavy ocean swell will continue to impact the southern and south-eastern coastline on Monday due to another cold front slipping along the southern coastal areas,” it said.

Gauteng

Meanwhile, just as Gauteng residents thought the weather was warming up, regional forecaster Gauteng Weather has warned people to brace for yet another cold front.

Gauteng Weather said early forecasts show more cold weather is expected to envelope the province.

“Early forecast suggests another cold front will hit Gauteng on Sunday,” it said.

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