The South African Weather Service (Saws) has forecast that a cold front, supported by an upper trough, will hit the Western Cape on Saturday afternoon. This will bring showers and rain to the province’s southwest, as well as isolated showers and thunderstorms over the country’s western and central interior.
According to Saws, light snow is forecast over the Drakensberg this weekend.
“Weather conditions are expected to change significantly as an upper trough system associated with a ridging high-pressure system at the surface will introduce significant cooling over the escarpment regions of South Africa, extending from the Western Cape, up to the southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
“Daytime temperatures are expected to start cooling down over the Western Cape from Sunday, reaching the Eastern Cape and KZN by Monday,” the forecaster said.
Saws said the forecast snowfall will follow a similar pattern, beginning in the Western Cape early on Sunday morning and continuing eastward to KZN on Monday morning.
Snowfall is predicted to end in the Western Cape and western sections of the Eastern Cape by Monday evening. Snowfall will continue on Tuesday in the eastern sections of the Eastern Cape and southern KZN.
According to Saws, as the cold front travels eastward across the country, onshore flow along the south coast will continue to produce showers and rain into the evening.
“With the cold front already resulting in cooler surface conditions, another upper trough associated with the ridging high-pressure behind the cold front will further cool down the surface temperatures on Sunday, especially along the high-lying regions of the Western Cape and into the southern parts of the Northern Cape. As the ridging high-pressure system continues to move eastwards, the temperatures are expected to drop further to very cold conditions over the escarpment of the Eastern Cape and southern KZN into Monday.
