Winter is here! Series of cold fronts to hit parts of SA this weekend

Thursday marks the conventional or traditional commencement of the winter season in this part of the world.

According to the South African Weather Service (SAWS), winter will be with us until the last day of August.

The coldest place in South Africa, according to the weather service, is Buffelsfontein near Molteno, in the Eastern Cape.

“It has an annual temperature of 11.3 degrees celsius and an average annual minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees celsius,” said the weather service.

The coldest month south of the equator is July.

Weather warnings

A series of cold fronts is expected over the Western Cape on Saturday and Sunday, bringing rainfall over parts of the Western and Northern Cape.

Windy and cold conditions can be expected over the southern parts of Namakwa district and the interior of the Western Cape from Saturday into Sunday, with maximum temperatures expected to be below 10 degrees Celsius in places.

ALSO READ: ‘Difficult’ winter ahead for SA, but risk of national blackout ‘extremely low’ – Ramaphosa

A yellow level 2 warning for damaging coastal winds has been issued between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas on Friday.

Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the Kheis and Dawid Kruiper Local Municipalities of the Northern Cape on Friday.

Friday’s weather forecast

Gauteng: Fine and cool weather. The expected UVB sunburn index: high.

Mpumalanga: Fine and cool to warm but cold weather in places on the Highveld.

Limpopo: Fine and cool to warm weather.

North West: Fine and cool to warm weather.

ALSO READ: Weather: Cold front imminent, hail and storms to batter E Cape

Free State: Fine and cold to cool, becoming partly cloudy from the afternoon.

Northern Cape: Morning fog patches along the coast, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm but cold in the south. The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong north-westerly.

Western Cape: Morning fog over the southern interior otherwise fine to partly cloudy and cool becoming cloudy in the west from afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh north-westerly to northerly reaching strong to near gale between Saldanha Bay and Cape Agulhas from the evening spreading along the south coast by late evening, otherwise moderate north-easterly. The expected UVB sunburn index: low.

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy in places in the morning, otherwise partly cloudy and cool. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate northerly, but north-westerly in places.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cold with morning frost in the north, otherwise fine and cool, becoming partly cloudy from the afternoon. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate north-westerly, but north-easterly in places during the afternoon.

ALSO READ: Cold front alert: Temperatures expected to drop below 10°C in parts of Western Cape

KwaZulu-Natal: Morning fog patches in places over the interior, otherwise fine and cool but warm in places in the east. The wind along the coast will be moderate westerly to south-westerly becoming north-easterly in the afternoon. The expected UVB sunburn index: high.