Photo: Adobe Stock
Photo: Adobe Stock
Capetonians have been warned to get cozy over the next few days as the South African Weather Service (SAWS) announced extremely cold weather, gale force winds and heavy rain is expected.
Winter is truly setting in, with an “intense cold front” incoming, which is likely to lead to choppy seas and localised flooding the Western Cape, with cold temperatures set to prevail across the country at various stages of the week.
Gale force winds predicted by weather warning
SAWS said on Monday 8 June that the cold front is going to make landfall on Wednesday 10 June.
“Significant rainfall amounts and snowfalls are in the forecast for the mountainous regions of the Western and Eastern Cape as well as the extreme southern areas of the Northern Cape from Wednesday,” they said.
“Ahead of this cold front, windy conditions are expected over he south-western parts of the country with strong to gale force north-westerly winds (50-70 km/h) over the interior of the Western and Northern Cape on Tuesday.”
They said that wind speeds would increase to between 80/90km/hour on Wednesday.
“The strong winds are expected to result in difficult driving conditions, especially for high-sided vehicles on routes prone to the impacts of strong winds.”
Western Cape Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said that the City’s response units would be on standby for any incidents that result from the severe wether headed our way.
“All City services and external agencies will be on standby to deal with the predicted adverse weather conditions,” she said.
“Residents are reminded to please ensure that they remove any potential blockages around their homes to limit the risk of localised flooding.”
Heavy rainfall expected
Seas are going to be extremely choppy, and SAWS recommended that people steer clear of low lying coastal areas,
“Very rough to high seas, with wave heights of between four to six metres can also be expected along the South West coast of the Western Cape, spreading along the south coast and reaching KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coast by Friday,” they said.
“Rainfall (5-20 mm) is expected to start on Tuesday afternoon over parts of the Western Cape ahead of the cold front, with continuous rainfall expected until Thursday 11 June.
“The bulk of the rainfall is expected on Wednesday, with amounts between 20 and 50 mm, although in mountainous areas, more significant rainfall is expected between 30 and 60 mm.”
Heavy rain is a concern in terms of the risk of localised flooding of informal settlements.
“Flooding of roads and settlements is expected, as well as possible danger to life if attempting to cross fast flowing streams.”
“Rockfalls and mudfalls are also possible, especially along prone coastal routes”
Stock farmers warned of frost following intense weather
The rest of the country will be affected by the cold front at later points in the week, with SAWS warning that stock farmers should plan ahead to protect their livestock from extreme frost.
They said that severe frost is possible over the Free-State, southern North-West province and in places over the Northern Cape from Friday until Monday, with stock farmers advised to take precautions ahead of time.
