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City to get its first taste of winter

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The mercury is expected to drop to -3 on Tuesday.

CITY residents have been warned to brace themselves for freezing weather this coming week, with the temperature expected to drop to -3 degrees on Tuesday morning, while snow is expected on the mountains in the extreme south-western parts of the Province.

The SA Weather Office said on Saturday that South Africans can expect a chilly start to the coming week as surface temperatures are expected to drop significantly on Monday, 25 May 2020 into Tuesday. 

“Adding to the recent two snow events over the Eastern Cape and Lesotho, the mountains of the Western Cape and the extreme south-western areas of the Northern Cape are about to experience the first snow of 2020,” spokesperson for the Weather Office, Matshidiso Mogale, said.

The weather system responsible for the expected winter weather is an intense cold front which will be supported by a steep upper trough from Sunday night, 24 May 2020, bringing rain showers to the southwestern areas of the Western Cape. 

“Ahead of this cold front, windy conditions are expected over most areas, with strong to gale force north-westerly winds (50-70m/h) over the interior of the Western Cape.”

Gale force winds can also be expected but are likely to be confined to the south-western and southern coasts of the Western and Eastern Cape respectively. Furthermore, very rough to high seas, with wave heights varying between 4.5 to 6.5 m can also be expected along the coastline. 

“The frontal system will introduce wintry conditions on Monday, 25 May 2020 and bitterly cold daytime temperatures are expected to spread eastwards over the Cape provinces.”

The Weather Office warned communities living in the extreme south-western areas of the Western Cape to brace themselves for a combination of cold, strong gusty winds as well as moderate rainfall. 

“Cold conditions are expected to set in over Lesotho, the Free State as well as the southern and south-western parts of North West province during the course of Monday. On Tuesday, 26 May 2020, snowfall is expected to spread to the central and northern interior of the Eastern Cape.

During Tuesday 26 May 2020, widespread bitterly cold daytime temperatures are expected over the entire interior, including the Cape provinces, Free State and southern KwaZulu-Natal. Even the southern parts of Gauteng are likely to be cold and windy on Tuesday. 

Snowfall is also likely to spread to include Lesotho, QwaQwa and the KZN Drakensberg mountains. 

In Kimberley windy conditions are expected on Monday, although the daytime temperatures will still be relatively warm with a maximum of 23 degrees C forecast.

By Tuesday, however, the maximum will only rise to 11 degrees C in the day, while the overnight temperature is expected to drop to -3 degrees C. 

Wednesday’s forecasted temperature for the city is 13 degrees C, while overnight it will be -1.

The cooler weather will continue on Thursday, with a high of 17 degrees expected and a low of 1.

By next weekend, the daytime temperature is expected to rise again into the low 20s.

Sutherland, traditionally the coldest area in the Province, is expected to drop to -5 degrees C on Monday night, and -6 degrees C on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

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