Daily Snow Report: four provinces now under warning
· The South African
Monday, 10 August’s Daily Snow Report brings genuinely disruptive conditions for South Africa, as the weekend’s cold front and cut-off low deepen further inland exactly as SAWS warned they would.
Forecasters have now confirmed specific warnings for several provinces, moving well past the “maybe” stage of earlier in the week.
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The South African Weather Service has issued an Orange Level 6 warning for disruptive snow over the Chris Hani District, Senqu, Elundini and Matatiele municipalities of the Eastern Cape, valid until Tuesday.
SAWS says this could cause major traffic disruptions and leave some communities temporarily inaccessible.
A separate, less severe Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive snow covers parts of the Eastern Cape, the east and south of the Free State along the Lesotho border, and the western parts of KwaZulu-Natal, also until Tuesday.
Two further Yellow Level 4 warnings are in place for KwaZulu-Natal, covering damaging winds and waves that could disrupt small harbours and coastal activity.
Today’s Daily Snow Report: cloudy, cold conditions with light snow this evening
According to SAWS, Gauteng can expect cloudy and cold conditions through the day, with scattered showers and thundershowers, and light snowfall possible over the south of the province once evening sets in.
Mpumalanga follows a similar pattern, cloudy and cold to cool, with light snowfall expected over the Southern Highveld and Escarpment areas later in the day.
Elsewhere, Limpopo stays fine in the morning before turning partly cloudy and cool to warm, with isolated showers spreading to scattered in the southeast.
Beyond the warnings already named, confidence for settled snow remains highest specifically over the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal border areas already under warning.
The system’s reach is wider than earlier in the week suggested
SAWS says the cold front and cut-off low will continue affecting the Free State, Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, southern Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the KwaZulu-Natal interior, persisting into Tuesday.
Persistent rainfall carries a real risk of localised flooding in low-lying areas, informal settlements, roads and bridges, while rough to very rough seas remain a hazard along the coast.
That’s a noticeably wider footprint than the cautious, single-region warnings earlier this week suggested.
I’ve watched this Daily Snow Report get more specific with every single update this week, and today’s Orange-level warning suggests it’s no longer a maybe for the Eastern Cape.
Since keeping an eye on the Daily Snow Report, now is the time, hey. The snow has officially arrived…
For all the snow chasers out there, this is our moment.
Are you in one of the provinces under warning today?
Let us know in the comments below, Mzansi …
Is it snowing in your area? If so, please send your photos to [email protected].