31 May 2024
After a relatively dry and warmer than usual May, South Africans should brace for the first significant drop in daytime temperatures.
According to the South African Weather Service, showers and thunderstorms may occur and snow is possible in high-lying areas.
This is due to a developing cut-off low-pressure system that will affect western and southern parts of the country on Sunday and Monday (2 to 3 June).
Cut-off low-pressure systems are commonly associated with widespread rainfall, snowfall, strong to gale-force winds, and rough sea conditions during winter.
Showers and rain will begin developing along the Eastern Cape coast by Friday and will extend over a large part of the province from Saturday onwards.
Between 50 mm and 100 mm of rainfall over a 24-hour period is possible, especially in places along the coastal belt where strong to gale-force winds and turbulent sea conditions with swells of 5 to 6 metres are expected.
Strong winds and rough sea conditions are also expected along the southern coast of the Western Cape from Saturday afternoon.
By Sunday, as the cut-off low-pressure system moves from the west over the country, it will result in cold temperatures and widespread thunderstorms over western, central and southern parts. This will spread to eastern parts during the day.
Some of these storms could intensify in places over the central and eastern interior, resulting in large amounts of small hail and strong, destructive winds. The rain is expected to continue over eastern and southern parts of the country on Monday.
Cold temperatures (12 °C to 17 °C) are expected from Friday over western and southern parts of the country, extending to central and eastern parts, including the Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga’s highveld and the interior of KwaZulu-Natal.
Very cold temperatures (maximum temperatures below 10 °C) with mountain snowfalls are possible over northern high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape, eastern high-lying areas of the Western Cape, southern high-lying areas of the Northern Cape, and parts of the Drakensberg and Lesotho.
The system is expected to weaken by Tuesday and exit over the southern coast, with rainfall still expected over parts of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. The weather will clear up over the rest of the country but it will remain cold.
