/ 16 April 2008

Winter is on the way, says weather service

Wintry weather conditions are expected to appear this weekend, the South African Weather Service said on Wednesday.

”The first outbreak of cold weather this year will occur from Saturday, taking more effect on Sunday,” said forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng.

He said rain-free conditions were expected until Friday.

On Saturday, isolated thunder showers are expected in the south-western interior in areas like Springbok, Calvinia, Worcester, Beaufort West and the western parts of the Northern Cape.

Much of the country may be partly cloudy.

”On Sunday … we are expecting things to get worse,” said Mofokeng.

He said the cut-off low would move into the interior from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.

This would cause isolated to scattered thundershowers to spread to central parts of the country.

The interior of the Western Cape and Northern Cape, as well as the Free State and Eastern Cape would be affected.

On Monday, some severe weather conditions were expected, especially in the Eastern Cape. Isolated thunder showers would also move from central to eastern areas like KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

In the high ground of the Eastern Cape, snowfall was expected as well as heavy rainfalls. The temperature on Sunday and Monday in the northern interior of the province was expected to drop below ten degrees, while at the coastal areas it would drop below fifteen degrees.

Gauteng would remain cloud-free for the next few days but by Saturday was expected to be partly cloudy.

It would experience isolated thunder showers on Sunday and Monday. Temperatures would remain in the mid-twenties until Saturday in the province.

On Sunday, they were expected to drop to the low twenties and to the high teens by Monday.

However, the temperatures would improve again on Tuesday.

The South African Weather Service issued a warning for very rough seas between Cape Agulhas and East London on Wednesday.

Waves in excess of 5m could be expected, although the turbulent conditions were not expected to last long. — Sapa