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Most of SA 'very cold'
27/06/2007 12:58 - (SA)
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| A snow man is seen in Kempton Park, Gauteng, after snow and icy weather gripped the country. (Stuart Winter, News24 user) |
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Johannesburg - Very cold conditions are expected over most of the country on Wednesday, the SA Weather Service warned.
Only the coastal areas, Gordonia, the Lowveld and Limpopo were excluded.
Snowfalls were expected on the high ground of the Eastern Cape, the far eastern Free State, the KwaZulu-Natal interior, southern Mpumalanga highveld and Lesotho.
Snowfalls would be heavy in western and southern KwaZulu-Natal and in the eastern half of the Eastern Cape.
Strong to gale force south-westerly winds were expected between Port Alfred and Richard's Bay. Very rough seas, with wave heights exceeding five metres, were expected between Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay, subsiding in the south by evening.
Heavy falls of rain were expected along the KwaZulu-Natal coast and adjacent interiors as well as Transkei.
The coldest minimum temperatures were in Bloemfontein, (-4°C), Johannesburg (-1°C) and Kimberley (-3°C). The highest minimum temperatures were expected in Nelspruit and Port Elizabeth with 10°C. Nelspruit and Durban were forecast to have the highest maximum temperatures at 18°C.
The strong cold front was expected to leave the country overnight on Wednesday.
Daytime temperature recovery was expected to begin across the country from Thursday.
Avoid all Eastern Cape passes
Meanwhile, motorists were warned to avoid all passes in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday due to snowfalls.
"Apparently there are hundreds of people stuck in the passes at present," said SA Weather Service spokesperson Garth Sampson.
"We sent warnings out yesterday [Tuesday]," he lamented.
Roads in and around Hogsback were impassable. Snow was reported to be lying up to 20cm deep there. According to a family in the area, the Winterberg mountains over Bedford, Adelaide as well as Kat Berg of Fort Beaufort and Post Retief were covered in deep snow, said Sampson.
The following passes were reported closed on Algoa FM's morning show: Penhoek, Lootsberg, Boesmanshoek Pass between Molteno and Sterkstroom, Kraai River, Barkley, Wapads Berg and Nico Malan passes.
The N2 was closed at Kokstad.
- SAPA
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