Thursday's weather: Snow, heavy rain, and damaging winds as cold front sweeps across SA

News24

7 hours ago

Disruptive snow is expected to fall in parts of the Eastern Cape, while heavy rain, damaging winds and waves are expected to persist in parts of the Western Cape, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS).
Damaging winds are forecast over Free State, parts of the Northern Cape and northwestern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
Impact-based warnings
- Yellow Level 4 warning for damaging waves resulting in damage to coastal infrastructure and disruption to beachfront activities along the coast between Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay.
- Yellow Level 2 warning for damaging coastal winds resulting in localised disruption of small harbours and/or ports for a short period of time, small vessels at risk of taking on water and capsizing and difficulty in navigation between Port Edward and Cape Vidal as well as between Cape Agulhas and East London.
- Yellow Level 2 warning for damaging waves resulting in damage to coastal infrastructure and disruption to beachfront activities along the coast between Plettenberg Bay and East London.
- Yellow Level 2 warning for damaging interior winds leading to localised problems for high-sided vehicles on prone routes and some transport services affected by wind is expected over Free State, the southeastern parts of the Northern Cape and northwestern parts of KwaZulu-Natal as well as along the coast and adjacent interior of the Eastern Cape between Plettenberg Bay and East London.
- Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive rainfall leading to localised flooding of susceptible formal and informal settlements or roads, and low-lying areas over Cederberg, City of Cape Town, Cape Winelands, and the western parts of the Overberg District (Western Cape) in the morning.
- Yellow Level 1 warning for disruptive snow resulting in traffic disruption due to icy roads, isolated loss of vulnerable livestock and crops over the Senqu and Elundini local municipalities of the Eastern Cape.
In the SAWS' colour-coded weather warning system, yellow indicates a moderate risk of impact that requires caution and awareness, while orange indicates that higher-risk impact is expected, requiring increased attention and preparation.
SAWS uses the numbers to indicate the likelihood of weather-based impacts occurring. Levels 2 and 6 are high, and Level 4 is low.
Advisories
An intense cold front is expected to continue to affect the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and the Free State until Friday.
The public and small stock farmers are advised that very cold, wet and windy conditions with heavy rainfall, strong interior winds and gale-force coastal winds, very rough to high seas and light snowfall on high ground can be expected.
The weather in your province
Gauteng: Partly cloudy in the extreme south; otherwise fine, windy and cool.
Pretoria: 7°C — 21°C
Johannesburg: 4°C — 20°C
Vereeniging: 3°C — 18°C
Mpumalanga: Windy in the Highveld. Elsewhere, fine and cool to warm, but partly cloudy from the evening, especially in the southwest and escarpment.
Mbombela: 7°C — 26°C
Ermelo: 5°C — 19°C
Emalahleni: 8°C — 21°C
Standerton: 6°C — 21°C
Skukuza: 12°C — 31°C
Limpopo: Windy in the west. Fine and cool to warm elsewhere, with partial cloud cover in the southwest and central regions by evening.
Polokwane: 11°C — 24°C
Phalaborwa: 13°C — 31°C
Tzaneen: 10°C — 27°C
Musina: 10°C — 29°C
Lephalale: 8°C — 28°C
Mokopane: 8°C — 24°C
North West: Partly cloudy, windy and cold. Isolated showers and thundershowers are possible in the south.
Klerksdorp: 7°C — 17°C
Potchefstroom: 7°C — 17°C
Mahikeng: 10°C — 17°C
Rustenburg: 6°C — 20°C
Vryburg: 9°C — 14°C
Free State: Partly cloudy, windy and cold to very cold. Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected.
Bloemfontein: 8°C — 12°C
Welkom: 7°C — 15°C
Bethlehem: 4°C — 14°C
Northern Cape: Cloudy in western and southern areas; partly cloudy, cold and windy elsewhere, with isolated showers and thundershowers. Coastal winds: Moderate to fresh (westerly to south-westerly).
Upington: 7°C — 12°C
Kimberley: 9°C — 12°C
De Aar: 5°C — 9°C
Alexander Bay: 13°C — 16°C
Springbok: 6°C — 8°C
Calvinia: 3°C — 8°C
Sutherland: 2°C — 5°C
Western Cape: Cloudy, cold and windy with widespread rain in the south-west. Light snow may fall on high ground. Coastal winds: Strong to gale force (westerly to north-westerly), shifting to light southerly along the south-west coast by evening.
Cape Town: 11°C — 13°C
Vredendal: 9°C — 14°C
Riversdale: 10°C — 13°C
George: 11°C — 14°C
Worcester: 9°C — 13°C
Beaufort West: 8°C — 11°C
Oudtshoorn: 8°C — 13°C
Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cool with scattered coastal showers, otherwise cloudy, windy and cold to very cold, with light snow over northern highlands. Coastal winds: Moderate to fresh (north-westerly), switching to strong westerly later.
Eastern half of the Western Cape: Cloudy and cold to very cold, with snow in the northern interior. Coastal areas can expect isolated showers and rain with fresh to strong winds later in the day.
Gqeberha: 15°C — 19°C
Makhanda: 10°C — 16°C
Cradock: 7°C — 13°C
Graaff-Reinet: 5°C — 13°C
East London: 16°C — 21°C
Port St Johns: 16°C — 23°C
Mthatha: 10°C — 19°C
Komani: 7°C — 13°C
Qonce: 11°C — 18°C
KwaZulu-Natal: Clear morning skies turning partly cloudy and cool; warm in the east. Isolated rain showers expected later, mostly in the south. Coastal winds: Light to moderate in the south, turning southerly to south-westerly as the day progresses.
Durban: 16°C — 30°C
Richard's Bay: 16°C — 30°C
Pietermaritzburg: 9°C — 25°C
Ladysmith: 9°C — 22°C