Cape Town – While residents in the Western Cape may be soaking up all the sun this week, they are advised to brace themselves for the cold as snowfall is expected next week.
A cold front is expected to make landfall across the country and weather experts have advised there are strong chances of snowfall in certain parts of the country.
Snowfall is expected in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, southern parts of the Northern Cape, southern parts of the Free State and Lesotho.
Earlier this week, the Cape Argus reported unseasonably hot temperatures, after various weather services predicted high temperatures in Cape Town.
The Cape Town weather office forecast warm temperatures in the high 20s from Monday to Wednesday, temperatures in the low 20s on Thursday, and increasing again to the mid-20s on Friday and Saturday.
Temperatures are expected to drop on Sunday.
The weather officer said this was due to a strong high pressure system situated over the Indian Ocean and extending into the central interior of South Africa, remaining in a similar position over the next few days in a phenomenon known as a “blocking high pressure”.
It said the blocking high pressure prevented cold fronts from reaching the coastline and slipping south of the country.
“In addition to this, the high pressure is causing wind flow from the central interior of South Africa to flow offshore to the Cape coast in a berg wind manner, which results in warm temperatures. This wind regime will persist until Wednesday,” the weather office said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL