News24.com | Brrrrace yourself! Cold, wet weather conditions expected for Cape provinces from Thursday

Heavy rainfall expected in parts of SA in the coming days.

• Cold and wet weather conditions are expected from Thursday into the weekend in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.  
• The SA Weather Service is warning residents to take precautions. 
• A Yellow Level 2 warning has been issued to those who in Saldanha Bay and Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned residents to take precautions as a spell of cold and rainy weather is expected to hit the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape this week, extending into the weekend.

The cold and wet weather is set to hit the provinces by Thursday.

Daytime temperatures are expected to drop significantly over the southern half of the country. 

At the same time, a range of wintry weather can be anticipated, including widespread significant rainfall and snowfalls over mountainous terrain, marine gales, and very rough seas over the southern oceanic areas.

"Upper-air troughs, as well as closely related cut-off lows, are a familiar feature of weather over Southern Africa and are associated with prolonged episodes of rainfall, often of an extreme nature. It is noteworthy that the extreme rainfall and flooding which affected KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) during April and May 2022 were associated with cut-off low weather systems on both occasions," SAWS said.

Forecaster Lauren Smith said a Yellow Level 2 Warning for waves resulting in difficulty in navigation at sea is expected between Saldanha Bay and Cape Agulhas on Thursday morning, spreading to Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay on Friday until Saturday.

"A cut-off low pressure system is expected to affect the Western and Northern Cape on Friday to Sunday. The public and small stock farmers are advised that heavy rainfall, very cold conditions with light snowfalls on the mountain peaks, strong winds and rough seas can be expected," Smith added. 

A particularly strong southern Atlantic high-pressure system is expected to extend eastward in the wake of the cold front, introducing pronounced and sustained onshore flow along the southern coastline of the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape during the weekend.

"This combination of surface and upper-air systems is expected to raise the likelihood of significant, widespread and heavy rainfall, especially over the coastal mountain regions, leading to localised flooding."

SAWS said that day-time temperatures are expected to drop significantly from Friday into Saturday, where maximum temperatures may be below 10°C in places.

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Light snowfall is possible over the southwestern mountains of the Western Cape as well as the southern high ground of the Northern Cape on Friday afternoon into Saturday.

Wave heights of up to four to five metres are also expected between Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay from Friday into Saturday.

Strong to near gale force south-easterly winds are expected north of Cape Point on Friday while spreading along the south coast on Saturday.

"These strong winds, accompanied [by] significant wave heights, will result in very rough and choppy sea conditions," SAWS said. 

Cloudy and cold to very cold weather will dominate the Northern and Western Cape from Friday onwards, spreading to include most of the Eastern Cape during the weekend.

Widespread rain and showers will accompany this system, with the likelihood of heavy rain and localised flooding being of particular concern for the southern and south-eastern coastline and adjacent interior, as alluded to earlier.

"Given the expectation of an extended spell of cold, wet weather [and] the possibility of snowfalls over mountainous parts of Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, farmers of small stock are advised to move animals to dry shelters at lower elevations," added SAWS.

Saws warned that only experienced, well-prepared hikers and climbers should venture into the mountains and hiking trails of the Western and Eastern Cape this weekend.

"The risk of hypothermia in mountainous terrain, especially if lost, injured or ill-prepared, could prove to be life-threatening," it said.