No snowfall in Gauteng this week but prepare for a cold front: weather service rubbishes fake reports

23 August 2021 - 07:50 By cebelihle bhengu
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The SA Weather Service has dismissed reports that parts of SA, including Gauteng, will experience snow this week. Stock photo.
The SA Weather Service has dismissed reports that parts of SA, including Gauteng, will experience snow this week. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/freerlaw

The SA Weather Service (SAWS) has dismissed false reports that the country will experience snowfall in the coming days.

The weather service was inundated with messages from social media users after a hoax video and news report made the rounds on social media at the weekend claiming that all provinces will experience snowfall, including parts of Johannesburg and Pretoria. 

The video doing the rounds on social media forecasting snow for Gauteng next weekend is not true. Although a cold front is expected later this week, numerical model predictions together with historical observations do not suggest snowfall in Gauteng at this stage.”

Senior forecaster Jacqueline Modika said SAWS is the only authoritative voice for extreme weather conditions and urged the public to steer clear of fake reports.

“We would like to dismiss these claims  as the authoritative voice of weather and alerts. However, we do want to acknowledge we are expecting an intense cold front to reach SA by Thursday. This is likely to produce snowfalls over the Western Cape high lying areas and southern high lying areas of the Northern Cape.

“This is expected to spread in the Eastern Cape high lying areas and the Drakensberg,” she said. 


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