Get ready for another koue weekend

SOUTH Africa is bracing for a series of intense winter systems set to bring widespread showers, very cold temperatures, and disruptive weather across several provinces from today through the weekend.

According to the South African Weather Service (SAWS), a series of cold fronts are expected to move in from Thursday into Sunday, affecting mainly the Western and Northern Cape, with impacts likely to spill into parts of the Free State and Eastern Cape.

SAWS warned: “A series of cold fronts are expected to bring scattered to widespread showers and rain over the western parts of the Western Cape from Thursday until Sunday.” 

In addition to rain, strong winds are expected to accompany these systems, particularly along the south-west coast, with gusts reaching 80 km/h between Saldanha Bay and Cape Agulhas on Friday.

This has prompted a yellow level 2 warning for wind on Friday, with SAWS stating: “A cold front is expected to make landfall over western parts of the Western Cape on Friday resulting in strong to gale force winds.”

By Friday, very cold conditions will spread further inland, with snow possible over the high peaks of the Eastern Cape and southern Drakensberg regions.

The rainfall probabilities for Friday remain high, with 60% scattered rain across southern interior parts and 30% isolated showers extending towards the Free State and southern KwaZulu-Natal.

The weekend will continue to see unsettled weather, with another cold front expected to reach the Western Cape on Sunday, bringing further showers and strong south-westerly waves of 4.5 to 5.5 metres between Cape Agulhas and Plettenberg Bay.

"Another cold front is expected to affect the Western Cape on Sunday. This will result in south-westerly waves of 4.5 to 5.5m as well as wave periods of 10-12s," SAWS confirmed.