South Africa welcoming winter with snow from Monday, 25 May 2020
22 May 2020
South Africans can expect a chilly start to the coming week as surface temperatures are expected to drop significantly on Monday, 25 May 2020 into Tuesday. Adding to the recent two snow events over the Eastern Cape and Lesotho, which included QwaQwa in the Free State during the second event, the mountains of the Western Cape and the extreme south-western areas of the Northern Cape are about to experience the first snow of 2020.
The weather system responsible for the expected winter weather is an intense cold front which will be supported by a steep upper trough from Sunday night, 24 May 2020, bringing rain showers to the south- western areas of the Western Cape. Ahead of this cold front, windy conditions are expected over most areas, with strong to gale force north-westerly winds (50-70m/h) over the interior of the Western Cape.
Gale force winds can also be expected but are likely to be confined to the south-western and southern coasts of the Western and Eastern Cape respectively. Furthermore, very rough to high seas, with wave heights varying between 4.5 to 6.5 m can also be expected along the aforementioned coastline.
The frontal system will introduce wintry conditions on Monday, 25 May 2020 and bitterly cold daytime temperatures are expected to spread eastwards over the Cape provinces. Communities living in the extreme south-western areas of the Western Cape should also brace themselves for a combination of cold, strong gusty winds as well as moderate rainfall.