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A spell of very cold and rainy weather is expected to affect the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape later this week, extending into the weekend, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned.
This rainy spell will be heralded by the arrival of a cold front over the south-western part of the Western Cape on Thursday morning.
“Daytime temperatures are expected to drop significantly over the southern half of the country, while a range of wintry weather can be anticipated, including widespread significant rainfall and snowfalls over mountainous terrain as well as marine gales and very rough seas over the southern oceanic areas,” said the weather service.
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“Upper-air troughs as well as closely related cut-off lows are a familiar feature of weather over southern Africa and are associated with prolonged episodes of rainfall, often of an extreme nature.”
Day-time temperatures for this week are expected to drop significantly from Friday into Saturday, where maximum temperatures may be below 10°C in places.
Light snowfall is possible over the south-western mountains of the Western Cape as well as the southern high ground of Northern Cape on Friday afternoon into Saturday.
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Cloudy and cold to very cold weather will dominate the Northern and Western Cape from Friday onwards, spreading to include most of the Eastern Cape during the weekend.
Given the expectation of an extended spell of cold, wet weather as well as the possibility of snowfalls over mountainous parts of Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, farmers of small stock are advised to move animals to dry shelters at lower elevations.
Gauteng: Partly cloudy and warm weather. The expected UVB sunburn index: high.
Mpumalanga: Morning fog patches on the Highveld and along the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to cold but cloudy along the escarpment with isolated showers and thundershowers. It will be warm in the Lowveld.
Limpopo: Partly cloudy and cool to warm weather, with isolated showers and thundershowers along the escarpment. Morning fog patches are expected along the escarpment.
North West: Morning fog patches in the south east, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm but fine in the west.
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Free State: Cloudy with morning fog patches, becoming partly cloudy over the east, otherwise fine and cool.
Northern Cape: Fine and cool to warm weather. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-easterly reaching strong at times.
Western Cape: Fine and cool to warm weather, with high-level clouds but hot over the west coast and in places over the Karoo, while cloudy along the south coast in the morning with early morning fog patches.
The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south to south-easterly, but light and variable along the south coast. It will become moderate west to north-westerly north of Lambert’s Bay, spreading along the south coast during the evening. The expected UVB sunburn index: moderate.
Western half of the Eastern Cape: Fine and warm weather. The wind along the coast will be Light and variable.
Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Fine and cool to warm. The wind along the coast will be Light north easterly.
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KwaZulu-Natal: Partly cloudy and cool with isolated showers in the north but scattered along the north coast. The wind along the coast will be moderate southerly to south-westerly. The expected UVB sunburn index: high.
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