South Africa : Harsh winter weather

[Meso]

Suprised to see this on the front page of yahoo news ...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Snow. Floods. Icy winds. Maybe even a tornado. South Africans are facing one of their harshest winters in years, with at least four deaths blamed on flooding from heavy rain that has caused travel delays in the south and west of the country.

While north of the equator, much of the United States sweats through a heat wave, Johannesburg saw flurries Wednesday for the first time in at least eight years, the national weather service said. Stunned office workers pressed against windows to savor the spectacle.

Freezing temperatures are not unusual at higher altitudes during the winter, but heavy snow has fallen in some interior towns that rarely experience such weather. More snow and gale force winds were expected Thursday in some areas, Weather SA said.

Torrential rains have caused flooding along the southern coast, including the town of George in the Western Cape province, where a rain-swollen river swept a car from a bridge. Police recovered two men and two children who had been inside the vehicle, but rescuers were looking for a fifth person believed to have been in the car.

Homes were flooded, sending scores of families to seek shelter at a community center and school, local authorities said.

Heavy snow, rain and falling rocks closed mountain roads in parts of the interior, including a border post with Lesotho, according to local news reports.

The George airport was closed Tuesday, disrupting 24 flights before it reopened Wednesday morning, airport officials said. Passenger trains in the Western Cape were running up to 14 hours late, the Spoornet rail company said.

Meteorologists were investigating whether a severe storm that swept through the northern town of Dullstroom on Tuesday night was a tornado. At least six people were injured in the heavy winds and rain, which also ripped roofs off homes, police said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060802/ap_ ... _cold_snap

[Jim Cantore]

I heard that Joannesburg had it's first snow in 25 years

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Not good if you went to see this year become number one warmest. But wow...

[Cyclenall]

Not good if you went to see this year become number one warmest. But wow...

You should look at these before saying that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_European_heat_wave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Heat_Wave_of_2006

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

I already knew that...But to make the record it has to be the whole world. In this cold spell in Africa is not helping.

[AussieMark]

Australia had a hot summer last summer across most of the country. Especially the east

where a lot of cities got well into the 100's

Canberra just had its warmest July in 18 years

[x-y-no]

I already knew that...But to make the record it has to be the whole world. In this cold spell in Africa is not helping.

No, that's not so.

A record high global average does not in any way imply that there cannot be local cold extremes.

[AussieMark]

wasn't 2005 the warmest on aveage yet siberia had some very cold temps last december or something

[JonathanBelles]

i think we will have winter like south africa but much quicker

[x-y-no]

wasn't 2005 the warmest on aveage yet siberia had some very cold temps last december or something

Yes. That's a fine example of what I'm saying.

[Cyclenall]

I already knew that...But to make the record it has to be the whole world. In this cold spell in Africa is not helping.

Is this effecting all of Africa or just South Africa? If just South Africa, then that is quite local compared to most of North America and Europe.

[kenl01]

Here was the article on the Johannesburg snow:

Rare snowfall across South Africa - 2 Aug 06 – “Snow fell on South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg for the first time in 25 years as icy temperatures gripped vast swathes of the country, the weather office said.

“Snow was reported in the southern Johannesburg township of Soweto and the posh northern suburb of Sandton, as well as the nearby towns of Carletonville and Westonaria. “ Johannesburg
last had snow on September 11, 1981.

Bloemfontein , the capital of the central Free State province, got its first snow in 12 years, receiving 13 centimetres (5.2 inches).

“At the Tiffindell ski resort in the southern Drakensberg mountains of the Eastern Cape province , guests were elated.” Tiffindell usually gets about five snowfalls a year, but rarely 25 cm in one day.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060802/sc ... 0802180049
Thanks to Tom Weatherby for this link

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Down on Africa's Wild Coast you have some of the highest waves, and offshore winds on Earth. Snow can indeed fall there as they say, and isn't extraordinarily strange; like say the snow that fell in Southern Mexico in 1998 (caused by El Nino '97/'98), the first measurable snowfall in over 100 there! Still very interesting though.

[kenl01]

Record cold in South Africa - 3 Aug 06 - Temperatures dropped to record lows
for August as snow fell in Johannesburg, and deep snow forced mountain passes to
close. Local residents say that it is an unusually severe winter.

The city saw a high of 7 degrees Celsius (44 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday -- the lowest daily high recorded in August -- while overnight temperatures dropped well below freezing in some partsof the country. Colder temperatures are expected this weekend.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060803/sc_ ... frica_dc_1

[kenl01]

Second snowstorm in South Africa in a month - 16 Aug 06

Heavy snow hammered southern South Africa today, leaving cars and lorries stranded. Authorities feared that the roofs of houses and buildings would collapse under the weight of the snow in several towns across the province.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news ... news.shtml

[Meso]

Things seem to be setting into spring here... + 25 degree temps for the past 4 days.. Would like to think winter is over,but we always tend to have some of the worst storms from cut-off lows during September/October