Cold fronts to move into Cape next week, gale-force winds forecast

16 May 2025 - 14:03 By TimesLIVE
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Gale-force winds are expected along the coastline, particularly from Alexander Bay through to Plettenberg Bay, resulting in very rough seas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stock photo.
Gale-force winds are expected along the coastline, particularly from Alexander Bay through to Plettenberg Bay, resulting in very rough seas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/1337swoosh

Two cold fronts are expected to develop early next week, says the South African Weather Service (Saws).

“On Monday a cold front will make landfall over the southwestern parts of the country, resulting in wet, cold and windy conditions over the western parts of the Western Cape. While this system will not be intense, it serves as a precursor to the more significant weather system that will follow.

“On Tuesday these weather conditions will spread to the east, affecting the Namakwa district of the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape.”

Rainfall accumulations are expected to range between 15 to 25mm, with a possibility of reaching 30 to 50mm in mountainous areas.

Strong and gusty westerly to northwesterly winds, with wind speeds averaging between 55 and 65km/h, are expected across the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape, especially over the interior.

“Possible impacts might result in outdoor activities being disrupted, with a high likelihood of localised damage to infrastructure, uprooted trees, increased travelling time on the roads, problems for high-sided vehicles, especially along the national routes through the provinces, as well as disruptions to power lines,” Saws said.

“For maritime operators and coastal residents, westerly to northwesterly gale-force winds (65-75km/h) are expected along the coastline, particularly from Alexander Bay through to Plettenberg Bay.

“These high winds will result in very rough seas on Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to sea conditions that could affect small vessels.

There is also a possibility of abnormal waves along the southeastern coast, with wave heights of 5m to 6.5m, occasionally peaking at 7m, with a 10-seconds wave period on Wednesday.”

The forecasters said freezing levels are expected to drop considerably, creating conditions favourable for some snowfall over high-lying areas and a general drop in temperatures next week.

“These very cold conditions are expected to spread to the central and the eastern parts of the country from Tuesday late evening, persisting until Friday morning.”

TimesLIVE


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