The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of light snow over the high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal due to an expected drop in temperatures this weekend.
This warning comes after the recent snow event of 19 - 22 September 2024, that wreaked havoc on roads between the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
The weather service noted that this system is significantly different from the previous snow event, therefore the impacts expected are not as significant as the snow event of 19 – 22 September 2024.
The snowfall is expected to start in the Western Cape early on Sunday morning (29 September 2024) and spread eastward towards KwaZulu-Natal by Monday morning (30 September 2024).
“Snowfall is expected to clear up in the Western Cape and western parts of the Eastern Cape by Monday evening. Snowfall will, however, persist on Tuesday (1 October 2024) over the eastern parts of Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal,” SAWS said on Thursday.
Weather conditions are expected to change significantly as an upper trough system associated with a ridging high-pressure system at the surface will introduce significant cooling over the escarpment regions of South Africa (extending from the Western Cape, up to the southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal).
“Daytime temperatures are expected to start cooling down over the Western Cape from Sunday, 29 September 2024, reaching the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal region by Monday, 30 September 2024.
“A cold front with an associated upper trough arrives in the Western Cape on Saturday afternoon, 28 September 2024, resulting in showers and rain in the south-western parts of the Western Cape as well as isolated showers and thundershowers over the western and central interior of the country,” SAWS said.
As the cold front moves eastward across the country, onshore flow along the south coast will continue to result in showers and rain persisting into the evening hours.
“With the cold front already resulting in cooler surface conditions, another upper trough associated with the ridging high-pressure behind the cold front will further cool down the surface temperatures on Sunday, 29 September 2024, especially along the high-lying regions of the Western Cape and into the southern parts of the Northern Cape.
“As the ridging high-pressure system continues to move eastwards, the temperatures are expected to drop further to very cold conditions (maximum temperatures of less than 10℃) over the escarpment of the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal into Monday, 30 September 2024.
“Strong to possible gale force winds as well as ocean swells between 4,0 to 6,0 m can also be expected along the south coast from Sunday into Monday morning as the ridging high-pressure moves through,” the weather service said.
Daily rainfall accumulation is not expected to exceed 30 mm over the period of 29 September until 1 October 2024. |
Light snowfall is likely to occur over the high-lying regions of Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape as well as southern KwaZulu-Natal.
“Light snowfalls can be expected over the high-lying regions of the Western Cape and places along the extreme-southern parts of the Northern Cape. Significant marine swells with heights between 4,0 to 6,0 m can be expected between Saldanha Bay and Plettenberg Bay on Sunday morning, spreading to Port Shepstone by Monday afternoon.
“Strong to possible gale-force winds can also be expected between Cape Agulhas and Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth) on Sunday, spreading as far as East London by Monday morning.
“Light snowfalls are expected to begin in the Eastern Cape and southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, persisting into Tuesday morning along southern KwaZulu-Natal,” the weather service said.
The ridging high-pressure system is ultimately expected to weaken and exit the country from Tuesday afternoon. Daytime temperatures are expected to recover quickly from Sunday into Monday across eastern South Africa. - SAnews.gov.za
