- A second cold front will bring icy conditions to the interior of the country from Tuesday.
- Minimum temperatures were expected to plummet significantly, with widespread frost predicted for Wednesday morning across the central interior of the country.
- Temperatures will start to warm up from Thursday.
To add insult to injury amid a coronavirus pandemic and rolling blackouts, South Africans have been warned that severely cold weather is on the cards for most provinces this week.
Tokelo Chiloane, a forecaster at the South African Weather Service (SAWS), told News24 a cold front that had already plagued the Cape provinces will move to the central and eastern parts of the country on Tuesday.
This includes Gauteng, the Free State, Eastern Cape, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and the highveld of Mpumalanga. According to the SAWS, temperatures are expected to drop to the low teens.
Cold to very cold conditions were expected to spread to the remainder of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chiloane said.
Minimum temperatures were expected to plummet significantly, with widespread frost predicted for Wednesday morning across the central interior of the country, such as the northern parts of the Eastern Cape, eastern parts of the Northern Cape, extreme southern parts of North West and Gauteng, as well as the Free State.
“We saw some very cold conditions in the Free State [on Tuesday] morning with frost in some places.”
??Advisory??: Severe frost is expected in the Free State, northern Eastern Cape, eastern and southern Northern Cape, North West, southern and central Gauteng and the Highveld of Mpumalanga on Wednesday and Thursday morning (15-16 July 2020).
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) July 14, 2020
On Wednesday and Thursday, the mercury will dip to below-zero minimum temperatures for Johannesburg (-2°C), Bloemfontein (-6°C on Wednesday), with Pretoria falling to 0°C on Thursday.
“Temperatures will drop from [Tuesday] afternoon, especially in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.”
According to Chiloane, the cold front was moving through the Free State between Welkom and Bloemfontein to the interior of the country.
“It will be warming up in the west on Wednesday. However, Gauteng and Mpumalanga will be experiencing cold weather and only warm up from Thursday,” Chiloane said.
Cold winds will add to the chill factor, she said.
On Monday, South Africa was hit by a second cold front following a drop in temperatures since Thursday that saw heavy rains, gale-force winds and snow batter the Cape provinces, as well as parts of Lesotho.
?? #ColdFront moves to the central and eastern parts of SA tomorrow (Tuesday) including Gauteng, Free State, Eastern Cape, North West, KZN and highveld of Mpumalanga. Temperatures are expected to drop to the low teens.
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) July 13, 2020
The southern provinces were not out of the woods yet.
The SAWS expected a storm surge along the coast between Mossel Bay and Cape St Francis on Tuesday morning.
In addition, gale-force winds (65km/h to 75km/h) are expected along the coast between Mossel Bay and Coffee Bay.
Snowfall is also expected over the high ground of the Western Cape, southern parts of the Northern Cape, southern Free State and the Eastern Cape high ground on Tuesday.
