It appears that the very cold weather in South Africa is to continue for quite some time. The Cape Town Weather Office has forecast more rain and cold weather for the Peninsula as well as the Southern Cape on Wednesday. Heavy snowfalls led to the closure of two mountain passes at the weekend.
The Potjiesberg Pass near Uniondale in the Karoo, has now been re-opened. However, the Swartberg Pass between Prince Albert and Oudtshoorn remains closed. Cold temperatures have been experienced over large parts of the Western Cape since Friday. Weather forecaster, Riaan Smit says: “The conditions are clearing out, it has already cleared this morning… we are expecting sunny conditions for today along the South Coast although the temperature is still on the cold side”.
“ We have another frontal system approaching, it appears to be a significant system, that system will affect us and the Southern Cape as well Wednesday into Thursday” says Smit.
Meanwhile the cold front that caused snowfalls in the high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape has also brought much-needed rain to parts of the drought-stricken province. Up to 50 millimetres of rain were measured along the coast. However very little rain was reported in the catchment areas of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s water supply dams. Strict water restrictions have been in place in the Metro since last October. [Info from SABCnews.com]
We would like to urge all road users to pay close attention to driving safely in these conditions. View this section on the Arrive Alive website: