Cold snap grips parts of country, but the worst is yet to come

It is definitely a cold Monday in most parts of the country, says the SA Weather Service.

The weather forecaster said the coldest areas would be the Western Cape, parts of the Northern Cape and the interior of the Eastern Cape, where maximum temperatures of 15ºC are expected. 

In Gauteng, Johannesburg is expected to reach a high of 18ºC while a maximum of 20ºC had been set for Pretoria.

“It’s also going to be windy so it will feel a lot colder,” said forecaster Edward Engelbrecht.

Limpopo recorded the highest temperatures on Monday. 

“For the rest of the country, we are expecting the cold front to move over the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

“There is a winter system moving over the country so we are expecting a 30% chance of showers and thundershowers over the Western and  Eastern Cape and the central interior parts of the country, namely the Free State, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal,” said Engelbrecht.

The cold weather conditions may bring snowfall over the Lesotho mountains and the southern Drakensberg. 

The weather service said the cold snap would last for a few days and it should warm slightly for the weekend.

“From Tuesday, we are expecting rain to spread to the northern and eastern parts of the country, namely Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the southeast parts of Limpopo,” said Engelbrecht.

“Temperatures will cool further for the rest of the country. In Gauteng we are expecting temperatures to drop on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday will probably have the coldest minimum for the week at about 3ºC or 4ºC,” said Engelbrecht.

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