Level 6 warning: Disruptive rain to hit parts of KZN and Eastern Cape

The South African Weather Service has warned of severe weather conditions in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal this weekend.

This as a cold front made landfall in the Western Cape on Thursday, moving further over the interior of Western Cape and Eastern Cape overnight and introducing cloudy and cold conditions to these provinces.

“Rainfall is already occurring over the southern parts of the country, with cold, rainy conditions expected to persist over the weekend, as these conditions migrate further northward and eastwards over southern Africa,” said the weather service.

While snowfall is expected over the mountainous regions of all three of the Cape provinces, the fall of snow is mostly expected to be relatively light and patchy, non-disruptive nature.

However, significantly heavy rainfall is likely to occur over the eastern parts of Eastern Cape on Saturday, specifically between East London and Port St Johns, including the adjacent interior regions.

Rainfall is expected to persist over this region on Sunday, when significant rainfall spreads over parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

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“Persistent rainfall of this magnitude, enhanced by sustained cool, moist onshore flow against the coastal topography, is highly likely to lead to localised urban and river flooding as well as damage to infrastructure,” said the weather service.

Daytime temperatures for the weekend are expected to be of the order of 12 to 16°C over the interior of the Cape provinces on Friday, with cold, showery conditions spreading into the Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

Weekend weather warnings

• An orange level 6 warning for disruptive rain along the eastern coast and adjacent interior of the Eastern Cape.
• A yellow level 4 warning for disruptive rain over the central and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
• A yellow level 2 warning for disruptive rain over the Eastern Cape, except in the west, and the extreme southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
• A yellow level 2 warning for damaging waves between Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay in the morning.
• A yellow level 2 warning for winds over the southern parts of Namakwa District of Northern Cape and the Central Karoo and Cape Winelands of the Western Cape.

Saturday’s weather forecast

Gauteng: Fine and cool to warm weather, becoming partly cloudy from the afternoon. The expected UVB sunburn index: very high.

Mpumalanga: Morning fog over the Highveld and along escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the south. It will be cloudy in the east.

Limpopo: Cloudy in the east, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm.

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North West: Fine to partly cloudy and cool to warm weather, with isolated showers and thundershowers, except in the north-east.

Free State: Morning fog patches in the east, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to cold with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the south.

Northern Cape: Fine weather in the west, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to cold with isolated showers and thundershowers in the east but cloudy with scattered showers and thundershowers in the south-east.

It will be windy in places over the southern interior. The wind along the coast will be strong south-easterly.

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Western Cape: Fine and cool over the western parts, otherwise cloudy to partly cloudy, windy and cold with isolated showers and rain but scattered along the south coast.

The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong south-easterly. The expected UVB sunburn index: moderate.

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cool along the coast, otherwise cloudy and cold with scattered showers and rain, but widespread along the coast east of Gqeberha.

Light snowfall is expected along the Sneeuberg Mountains. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-easterly.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and cold with widespread showers and thundershowers. Light snowfall is expected over the southern Drakensberg, where it will be very cold.

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The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly, but south-westerly in places.

KwaZulu-Natal: Cloudy and cool weather, with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the south. Widespread showers and thundershowers are expected along the south coast.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly to southerly. The expected UVB sunburn index: low.