Picture for illustration. A cyclist rides a bike as heavy frost covers the grass as the sun rises on a freezing winter morning, in Johannesburg, South Africa, 19 June 2020. The high altitude of the city coupled with still nights and below zero centigrade temperatures makes for amazing frosty mornings for months during the winter period. Picture: EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned that South Africans, particularly those living in the Western Cape, can expect “chilly, windy and wet conditions” in the days ahead.
This is because a well-developed cold front has been making temperatures drop since Thursday, which will be followed by a second cold front.
It was not likely to get warmer for the next week or so as another front will move in on Monday.
In Gauteng, temperatures are expected to drop dramatically overnight on Friday, with Joburg expected to fall below zero early on Saturday morning.
The rest of the weekend will be cold and windy, with temperatures dropping to zero degrees every night in Johannesburg until Tuesday.
The SAWS has also warned of “extreme weather phenomena” such as localised flooding, gale-force winds and high seas.
Snowfall was also expected over the Western Cape’s mountainous regions, although this will be “non-disruptive”.
Extreme weather has hit parts of South Africa, with strong winds causing a truck to overturn in the Western Cape on Thursday.
ALSO SEE: WATCH: Trucks blown over as cold front hits SA
According to the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, excessive winds blew the truck over on the R43 near Villiersdorp.
“The driver had exited the vehicle before it was blown over,” the department’s spokesperson, Jandre Bakker, said.
Mbavhalelo Maliage, a forecaster at the SAWS, earlier said heavy rain was to be expected from Thursday in the late afternoon, especially in the Cape metropole and Winelands areas, the Overberg district and the West Coast district in the Western Cape.
“There will also be strong to very strong gale-force winds from between 70km/h to 90km/h in the Western Cape, the southern parts of the Northern Cape, and the central Karoo, which will continue until Friday,” Maliage said.
The SAWS also predicted strong gale-force winds of between 60km/h to 75km/h over the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape provinces, as well as along the coast between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas, spreading to Plettenberg Bay.
High seas with wave lengths of 6m to 8m were expected along the coast between Hondeklip Bay and Cape Agulhas on Thursday, spreading to Port Alfred on Friday into Saturday.
The SAWS also warned of possible localised flooding over the Cape Metropole, Overberg and Cape Winelands regions on Friday and Saturday.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) issued a warning about high seas that are expected to accompany the cold weather.
High seas, combined with spring tide and the cold front, are expected along the south and southwest coastline persisting into Monday morning.
“The concern is for smaller vessels at sea navigating through the conditions as well as for beachgoers and coastal hikers who may be caught off-guard by large waves at spring high tide that could potentially sweep them off the rocks along the shoreline,” NSRI CEO Cleeve Robertson said.
“We are appealing to boaters, paddlers, beachgoers, surfers, coastal hikers, anglers and the public to be cautious around the coastline and to follow SAWS forecasts,” Robertson said.
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