Thought Wednesday’s gale and previous cold front was the end of it? Think again.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) warns of another sub-Antarctic cold front and pressure squeeze on Friday, 27 June.
Weather update: Cold front incoming
This week’s weather, in a nut shetll:
- The Atlantic seaboard keeps level-4 warnings for damaging waves;
- the Eastern Cape gears up for mountain snow and inland flooding; and
- parts of Gauteng faces an eight-hour, pre-announced blackout.
Western Cape waves
The core low has shuffled east, but the ocean never got the memo.
As per the SAWS’s weather update, a long-period swell continues to batter the southwestern coast, and a yellow level-4 alert was issued for Friday evening.
Translation: harbour walls and tidal pools remain selfie-free zones. Gale-force gusts linger over the peninsula’s higher ridges; anything that rattled on Wednesday may finish the job now.
Northern Cape: the snow wildcard
As the cold pool tracks inland, freezing levels crash over the interior plateau.
SAWS hints at a dusting of snow across the Roggeveld and Nuweveld high spots. Snowfall totals look postcard-thin, but icy tar is enough to shut down a Karoo pass before breakfast.
Keep a loose grip on the wheel and an eye on further weather updates.
Eastern Cape: “seasonal” is not the word
By Thursday the front has re-loaded its punch for the east.
Forecast models show 5.5- to 7.5-metre waves hammering the Wild Coast through Friday, while cooler air aloft means wet snow is in play for the northern ranges.
SAWS pegs the storm impact at level 2 for disruptive rain and local flooding. Low-lying rural roads and rivers that cruised through Monday now sit on the edge.
Cape Town still on red alert
The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre never dropped to standby.
Its 23 June communique keeps 021 480 7700 plastered online for emergencies.
Ground crews spent Wednesday clearing debris and will spend Friday chasing fresh reports as the tail-end fronts rip by.
Johannesburg’s power outages
City Power has a maintenance window locked in for 08:00 to 16:00, Friday, on the Mulbarton Substation.
Residents get the usual warning: assume every line is live, then assume it will trip the instant your kettle boils.
If the front’s surface trough flicks thunderstorms north, good luck calling fault reports.
The weather will be alright-ish, at least? The forecase for Friday shows a crist, clear (and somewhat chilly) evening with temperatures dripping to around 7 or 9 °C overnight.
Weather forecast cheat sheet
So, what to do now?
- Cape coast: stay off break-waters; keep pets (and Instagrammers) behind railings.
- Northern & Eastern Cape passes: plan detours, and don’t trust that “light snow” line.
- Johannesburg South: charge phones and power banks; log out of Netflix by 07:59.
The worst may have peaked, but storm physics doesn’t respect news fatigue.
Friday is the cold front’s encore: loud enough, wet enough, and inconvenient enough to deserve attention.
Stay weather-wise, keep the kettle topped up, and follow @SAWeatherServic, municipal feeds and @CityPowerJhb for live advisories.
Sources: SAWS impact-based warnings (as of 25 & 26 June), City of Cape Town Disaster Management bulletin (23 June), City Power Johannesburg maintenance notice.