Snowfall over the Berg and severe thunderstorms for KZN and Gauteng

Light snowfall is expected over parts of the Drakensberg in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Tuesday evening.

This as the province, and many other parts of the country, experiences a cold front which has swept in from Botswana through the central interior and stretching to the coastal regions of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

SA Weather Service (SAWS) forecaster Julius Mahlangu said until now there had been no snowfall in the province, but this was expected to change overnight.

“We're expecting some light snowfall over parts of the Drakensberg mountains tonight going into Wednesday morning.” 

Mahlangu said many parts of KwaZulu-Natal were experiencing thunderstorms and showers.

“We've had no major reports of damaging thunderstorms yet. The northern part of the province, including Ladysmith and Newcastle, is where we're seeing most of thunderstorms.” 

He said most weather stations in the province had recorded from 10mm to 15mm of rainfall.

“The rainfall is expected to continue throughout this evening into tomorrow morning [Wednesday]. By tomorrow afternoon we should see it clearing up,” he said.

On Monday, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) Sipho Hlomuka placed disaster management teams on alert across the province after a weather warning from SAWS.

Cogta spokesperson Nonala Ndlovu said there had been no incidents reported to any of their teams across the province.

SAWS spokesperson Hannelee Doubell said parts of Gauteng could also expect severe thunderstorms on Tuesday.