Get ready for a fierce winter blast this week. According to Angelo Ricardo Hoorn of the Severe Weather and Information Centre SA, two cold fronts will merge and bring rain, snow and gale‑force winds from Wednesday 30 July to Friday 1 August.
A strong winter system is expected to affect parts of South Africa from Wednesday through Friday, bringing rain, wind, and snow.
Forecasts predict two cold fronts will merge into a single, more intense system by Wednesday afternoon, strengthened further by an upper-air disturbance.
Ahead of the system’s arrival, bergwinds on Tuesday will drive warm to hot air into coastal areas of the western and southern Cape. Isolated showers may develop over the western interior, while coastal towns could see temperatures climbing into the high 20s.
By Wednesday afternoon, the combined cold front will sweep across the Cape Town metro, with rain spreading into the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts. Showers may become heavy at times, and localised thunderstorms are possible later in the day.
A second front will make landfall early Thursday, sustaining widespread rain across the southern and southeastern parts of the country. Snow is expected to fall over the southern high ground of the Northern Cape, with light to moderate snowfall over the southwestern Cape mountains and high-lying areas of the northern and northeastern Western Cape.
From Thursday into Friday, gale-force south-westerly winds will batter the southern coastline, producing dangerously rough sea conditions. By Friday, strong winds will extend along the east coast.
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Picture: Angelo Ricardo Hoorn, Severe Weather and Information Centre SA / Facebook
