Icy weather not over

2003-10-19 21:07

Johannesburg - The icy cold weather gripping the country's northern provinces is expected to last at least until Tuesday.

The SA Weather Service said on Sunday very cold, wet and windy conditions were expected to continue overnight as well as on Monday over Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Free State, Limpopo, the western parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern parts of the North West.

Strong easterly winds feeding in moist air from the Indian Ocean were also predicted - as was an 80% possibility of rain over parched areas of Limpopo province.

"These conditions are due to two weather systems, one in the east, and a second over the western regions. In the east there is a high pressure system ridging over the north-eastern interior, bringing very cold south-easterly winds over the east coast, and north-easterly winds over the interior," the Weather Service said.

"This wind originates well south of the country and is bitterly cold, bringing temperatures down over the eastern half of the country and resulting in a possibility of light snowfalls over the high lying areas of the eastern escarpment.

"There is also a cut-off low in the upper air, situated near the Botswana border.

"Together these two systems will result in some showers and thundershowers over the eastern interior until tomorrow. The upper low will move east of the country by Wednesday, but moisture will still persist over the eastern parts, causing partly cloudy conditions for a few days," the weather service said.

At the same time, conditions which could lead to the development and spread of runaway veld fires were expected over the Cape Peninsula, the SAWS said.

Ermelo to start at -1

It said Johannesburg could expect a near freezing minimum of 2° C on Monday morning and a midday high of eight. At about noon on Sunday the temperature in the city was a chilly four.

The service said Pretoria could expect a low of three and a high of 10 while Mpumalanga would start off even colder with -1 expected for Ermelo and Standerton.

Elsewhere in the cold-affected zone, temperatures would generally start out in the single digits and rise to the mid-teens.

Meanwhile temperatures in the Northern and Western Cape were more in keeping with those expected in late October, with those in Upington expected to range from 10 to 26, in Kimberley from eight to 22, in Beaufort West from five to 28 and in Cape Town itself from 19 to 31.

- SAPA