Cii News – August 7 , 2012

The N3 highway along the Van Reenen’s pass between Johannesburg and Durban has experienced snow and was closed on Tuesday morning. The  suggested alternative route for motorists was the N11 via Lady Smith and Newcastle.

The cold weather that has gripped large swathes of South Africa is expected to dissipate by Thursday or Friday.

In the Western Cape the Swartberg Pass from Prince Albert and Outdtshoorn and the road between Touws River and Montagu has also been closed.

Light snow has also been reported on the N1 between Johannesburg and Cape Town but the road has not been closed.

Ashraf Ismail of the Road Traffic Management Cooperation urged motorists to be careful. “Please exercise extreme caution on the roads, drive with your headlamps on and observe a safe following distance and make sure the electrical components of your vehicle are in a road worthy condition.”

Weather forecasters at the South African Weather Service said they expect rain and possible snowfall over the southern part of Gauteng and the Underberg areas of Kwazulu-Natal on Tuesday.

Weather reports and picture updates have filled much of the South African social network scene as users update new information of sleet or snowfall. The excitement was expected as snowfalls were rare occurrence in South Africa.

Weather forecaster Dipou Tawana said, “For the Gauteng area we a re looking at a 30 percent chance showers mainly over the southern parts of the province. Because our freezing level is so low we are expecting that parts of the precipitation is expected to be snow. In the southern parts of Kwazulu-Natal we are looking at an 80 percent chance of rain with the rest of the province seeing a 60 percent chance.”

Temperature in Gauteng would reach a maximum of between 6-12 degrees celcius on Tuesday.

The weather is in the control of Allah.