SANRAL warns of disruptive snowfall in Western Cape

SANRAL

Cape Town — The South African Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) said the weather warning issued by the South African Weather Services (SAWS) would affect the roads.

SAWS said disruptive snowfall was expected in parts of the province including the Cape Winelands, Cederberg, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Karoo regions. Some mountain passes are expected to be closed as 5-10cm of low-level or ground snowfall is expected, especially in the Northern Cape and Cape Winelands, IOL reported.

SANRAL said the weather warning, which has escalated to level 5, means the wet weather and icy temperatures would affect certain routes.

“The icy conditions could affect mobility on the N1 between De Doorns and Beaufort West, and our Routine Road Maintenance (RRM) teams are on high alert to respond to any incidents on the network,” SANRAL regional manager, Randall Cable said.

SANRAL’s Road Incident Management System (RIMS) is working with all road authorities and government services to coordinate appropriate responses to all road incidents reported on the network.
Cable said some routes in the Northern Cape would also be affected by rain and snow, including the N1, N9 and N10. He appealed to road users to delay travel where possible and appealed to road traffic authorities to urge users to take the weather warnings seriously.
According to SA Gov News, the adverse weather conditions could also affect livestock and crops, while many people were at risk of hypothermia. Traffic and vehicle accidents are likely due to icy roads, SAWS said.
“Disruption to services is also possible. Some communities may be temporarily inaccessible. The possibility of snowfall over Ubuntu Local Municipality in the Northern Cape could result in the isolated loss of vulnerable livestock and crops,” it said.
According to The Citizen, SAWS Climatologist, Andries Kruger, explained why the weather has been so cold in South Africa, especially as we enter the months of spring. He said the transition from winter to summer can lead to 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,” he said,

SAWS said the weather will start to regulate in the coming weeks, and described the next few days as a “recovery week”.

The service said ‘normal’ spring conditions to expect are strong winds and temperatures that are either warm to hot or cold.


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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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