The snow forecast for Southern Africa this week first arrived in Namibia with a video of light snowfall at Klein Aus Vista near Aus in southern Namibia that was shared on social media on Tuesday afternoon.
By Alani Janeke, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
This video was shared by Petro Kruger Scheun on the Facebook group Namibië Reënval.
Johan van den Berg, an independent agricultural meteorologist, says the cold front that hit the west coast as far north as Namibia means the chances of light snowfall over southern Namibia are good.
Another video shared by Piet Swiegers on the Gondwana Collection Namibia Facebook group also shows the light snow falling in the Aus area.
Kruger Scheun writes on Facebook that 12mm of rain also fell there.
“The system with rain is moving eastwards where it could also cause snow over the eastern parts of the Northern Cape and the central to western parts of the Eastern Cape tomorrow (6 August),” says Van den Berg.
“The mountain passes from Graaff-Reinet to Middelburg could also get snow, but it does not currently look like heavy snow. The system will then move further eastwards with snow over the Drakensberg from tomorrow afternoon (6 August).”
Van den Berg says the conditions could pose a great danger to livestock farmers with shorn small stock or those with small lambs or calves.
“The danger is that very cold conditions and rain of around 10mm or more could occur over the central to eastern parts of the country. Moderate to strong winds could also occur, which will lower the sensed temperature.”
Livestock farmers are therefore advised to make timely preparations to adequately shelter their animals from the cold weather conditions.
Also read: Keep small livestock safe during severe cold
Van den Berg says temperatures should start to recover from Thursday (7 August).
According to Vox Weather’s forecast, some weather models are indicating light snow over parts of central South Africa and Gauteng.
Vox Weather says if snow falls over parts of Gauteng, the North West and the Free State, it is not expected to touch the ground. It is likely to melt quickly due to light rainfall accompanying the system.
A mix of rain, snow and graupel is possible over the Northern Cape on Tuesday and Wednesday (5 and 6 August), and possibly over the Free State on Thursday (6 and 7 August), with graupel possibly falling over Gauteng on Thursday (7 August).
“Snowfall that does settle will likely be confined to the mountains in the Free State near Lesotho and the high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape,” writes Vox Weather.
