ALERT: Motorists warned of hazardous snow conditions as certain roads and mountain passes shut

Source: News24

Cape Town – A number of weather alerts have been put in place, including the closure of some roads and mountain passes, as a cold front moves across the Free State, northwards through Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

South African Weather Service says in the wake of the advancing cold front, widespread rain occurred over the southern parts of the country, with the Eastern Cape bearing the brunt of the extreme wintry weather overnight.

“A cut-off low in the upper parts of the atmosphere is currently positioned over the eastern highlands of the country, contributing to the overall severity and intensity of this winter system,” says SA Weather Chief Forecaster Ezekiel Sebego.

Doubell says the Eastern Cape, which has been very dry of late, experiencing much less rainfall than is usually the case, with many dams and reservoirs urgently in need of replenishment, can expect more snowfall over the next day or so.

“This episode of rainfall, augmented by snowmelt in the days to come, will be most welcome for the Eastern Cape. Whilst falls were not particularly heavy (of the order of 30 or more mm in many places), further rainfall is expected today (Thursday).

Sebego says heavier falls were experienced in and around the Port Alfred area and adjacent interior on Wednesday, which could lead to possible localised flooding.

2cm snowfalls expected, mountain passes affected

Widespread snowfalls over high-lying terrain in the Eastern Cape has seen a number of roads and mountain passes in the Eastern Cape closed. Further heavy snowfall, of the order of 2cm per hour is expected for the Winterberg region of Eastern Cape today.

Weather Update: Disruptive snowfall, heavy rain and gale-force wind in eastern parts of SA

Pass closures due to snow as of Wednesday morning were: 

1)      Wapadsberg Pass R61 between Cradock and Lootsberg

2)      Lootsberg Pass N9 between Middelburg and Graaff Reniet

3)      Barkly pass R58 between Elliot and Barkly East

Roads in the Eastern Cape which are currently deemed to be hazardous due to snow: 

1)      R56 between Molteno and Dordrecht

2)      Nico Malan Pass R67 in Seymour (Winterberg)

3)      Kraairivier Pass between Barkly East and Elliot

4)      Penhoek pass N6 between Queenstown and Jamestown

5)      R58 between Barkly East and Lady Grey

Disruptive snow over Free State, Lesotho and KZN

Sebego warns snowfalls of a disruptive nature can also be expected over extreme southern Free State, Lesotho as well as southern KwaZulu-Natal and even as far north as Van Reenen’s pass today and overnight tonight.

Along the coastal regions Sebego says south-westerly gales, accompanied by localised heavy rainfall can be expected along with thunder storms as the frontal system progress northwards along the eastern coast from East London, as far north as Maputo on Thursday.

“While Friday will still see some residual snowfalls over the eastern Drakensberg, eastern parts of Eastern Cape and parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the system is expected to begin weakening and drifting eastwards towards the Indian ocean on Friday,” says Sebego.

“Rainfall, strong winds and rough seas will still persist along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline during Friday, but are expected to ease off later in the day. The remainder of the provinces should however remain mostly dry and cloud-free on Friday.”

If all goes according to the forecast South Africans can look forward to a predominantly sunny, dry and mild weekend, almost countrywide.

“Despite the anticipated recovery of daytime temperature, most localities over the interior of the country will experience very cold overnight conditions in the nights to come.”