Capetonians can consider the “icy” weather quite literal. Heavy rain coupled with freezing temperatures due to a succession of cold fronts has seen snow make landfall in some parts of the Western Cape. Swartberg Pass is temporarily closed as a result.
The first cold front arrived in the south-western parts on Monday afternoon, with another more intense cold front hitting the Mother City on Wednesday. Cold, wet and windy conditions have been on the cards for all Capetonians this week.
Read also: Brace yourselves – here comes the next round of cold fronts
According to the South African Weather Service, the snow was brought on by a very strong weather system, which was pushing cold air from the South Atlantic. In other words, its so cold that the rain is freezing. Hello snow!
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The Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning spokesperson, James-Brent Styan, urged the public to be cautious. Disruptive snowfall is expected in the higher mountainous regions of the Cape provinces.
“The Disaster Centre remains on standby. The Swartberg Pass remains closed as result of snow and rain. No major incidents reported so far,” he said.
The cold has already resulted in Eskom forcing the utility to implement stage 2 loadshedding from 4pm until 9pm.
Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 21:00 tonight due to shortage of generation capacity@News24 @SABCNews @NewzroomAfrika @eNCA @IOL @ewnupdates @SundayTimesZA @SowetanLIVE @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/YijqEXvEJm
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 22, 2021
Picture: Instagram lilothegoldenseal
