GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - As we enter spring, the last thing you would expect would be to be snowed in or swept away by heavy wind.
But the reality is that South Africans have been dealing with weather colder than many are used to.
Over the weekend of 19-22 September, severe levels of snow hit parts of the country, causing chaos in KZN.
The extreme conditions ironically overlapping with the spring solstice on Sunday 22 September.
The following weekend the weather service forecasted extreme cold temperatures with the possibility of light snowfall in some provinces from Sunday into the following Tuesday.
SA Weather Service explains
SA Weather Service Climatologist, Andries Kruger told The Citizen that in the spring months the summer weather systems start to establish, but with typical winter systems still occurring in between.
“For example, the moisture from the north is coming closer but the cold fronts from the south can still be strong from time to time.”
He said that the transition from winter into summer can sometimes bring about more extreme conditions, such as the recent snow.
“This variation and interaction between the typically summer and winter systems can make the weather quite unsettling.”
“Cold weather is not unusual in the early spring months including October. This happens because the cold fronts from the south can still be strong from time to time, as what happened last week.”
Photo: Johan du Plessis | Facebook
What weather should we be expecting this upcoming week?
The weather service’s forecasting centre told The Citizen that they are “not expecting much” extremes in the next seven days.
“The weather system that was dominating was what brought the cold. But now that the system is out, everything will gradually return to its average of the season.”
“We are not expecting cold weather this week, it’s more like a recovery week. What we are expecting this week is each region returning to their spring weather.”
“Temperatures will start to recover over the Western parts of the country from today, meaning the temperatures will be warming.”
The Eastern parts of the country is expected to warm, specifically the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and some parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, from Friday.
So what will spring be like?
The service said ‘normal’ spring conditions to expect are strong winds, and temperatures that are either warm to hot or cold.
“Our spring is normally dry conditions where the temperature is sometimes warm to hot, sometimes it’s cold, and there are strong winds.”
Photo: Johan du Plessis | Facebook
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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