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One Week, Four Seasons of Weather

If South Africa has long been known as the World in One Country, this week it could have also been called Weather in One Country. Storms, terrible winds, blistering heat as well as snow have all hit various parts of the country. In KwaZulu Natal, powerful winds were having a strange effect on the land. Said one news […]

By SAPeople Staff Writer
03-11-15 15:45
in Fab South African Stuff

If South Africa has long been known as the World in One Country, this week it could have also been called Weather in One Country. Storms, terrible winds, blistering heat as well as snow have all hit various parts of the country.

In KwaZulu Natal, powerful winds were having a strange effect on the land. Said one news report: “For the first time that any St Lucia resident is aware, today’s gale force winds appear to be blowing the St Lucia estuary dry.” The effect of the weather was made painfully visual by the sight of a hippo trying to swim upstream.

Winds of up to 90 km/hour were reported across the north and south coasts of KZN yesterday. In Cape Town, winds brought down an Eskom pylon on Sunday, which hit a house (there were no injuries), while part of a road in Strandfontein was washed away.

Watch the video of the St Lucia hippo

Heavy rain and gale-force wind warnings have also been issued for the Garden Route, between Plettenberg Bay and Port St Johns, as well as Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape. East London and Kosi Bay could also be hit, the weather bureau said.

PUPILS of St Catherine’s pre-school in Empangeni have escaped unscathed after strong winds resulted in a huge tree collapsing on one of the classrooms. Source: Zululand Oberver Facebook page.
A huge tree uprooted by strong winds landed on a pre-school classroom in Empangeni, although there were thankfully no injuries. Source: Zululand Oberver Facebook page.

While the Free State and KwaZulu Natal in particular have been hit by drought conditions, last week the town of Vredendal in the Western Cape recorded the hottest temperature ever in the world in the month of October by hitting an unbearable 48.4° C (119.1° F). It was the third-highest recorded temperature in South Africa’s history.

Limpopo has also been told to expect seriously warm temperatures in the coming week.

Temperatures almost tripled from Oct 1 to Oct 27 in Vredendal. Source: Weather Underground.
Temperatures almost tripled from Oct 1 to Oct 27 in Vredendal. Source: Weather Underground.

On the colder end of the spectrum – even though summer is almost here – yesterday and today the team from Snow Report SA reported snow on the Drakensberg, and said the best was at Loteni in the southern range but it was melting quickly and would require a substantial hike to get to. The team said they had driven across the high Sani Pass, but that the snow there was melting even more quickly.

Near Lotemi. Source: SA Snow Report Facebook page.
With main picture, in the Loteni Nature Reservei. Source: SA Snow Report Facebook page.
The mountains taken from the Blueberry Hill farm in Nottingham Road. Photo: Sue Nel.
The mountains taken from the Blueberry Hill farm in Nottingham Road. Photo: Sue Nel.

On Sunday the Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane called on people to use water sparingly and responsibly because climate change had exacerbated the drought situation in the country.

“So far, drought disaster has been declared in only two of the nine provinces … which are KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. Funding for specific drought mitigation measures have been received by only the KwaZulu-Natal province,” she said.