Grahamstown is among many towns in the country facing a high risk of flooding this weekend, warns the Cacadu disaster management centre. Makana Municipality disaster management officer Khuselo Qupe said they've received flood warnings for the Grahamstown area for Saturday and Sunday, particularly Fitchat and Lawrence Streets.
Grahamstown is among many towns in the country facing a high risk of flooding this weekend, warns the Cacadu disaster management centre. Makana Municipality disaster management officer Khuselo Qupe said they've received flood warnings for the Grahamstown area for Saturday and Sunday, particularly Fitchat and Lawrence Streets.
The Cacadu centre also urges all South African road users to take extra care when driving due to the high rain expectancy all over the country.
An average of 100mm of rain is expected throughout the Cacadu region, to be accompanied by below-freezing inland temperatures. Heavy snow falls are also expected on all mountain passes, with the exception of Olifantskop pass which lies approximately 13km from the Addo Elephant Park.
If the dreary weather forecasts are correct then Grahamstown will be in for a duvet-clutching weekend. According to SA weather service forecaster Bransby Bulo, the Eastern Cape can expect the cold front to arrive on Friday.
“The Eastern Cape will experience southerly winds reaching 35-40km per hour on Saturday, which will subside slightly to 30-35km/h on Sunday,” he said.
SA weather says that the sun will disappear early on Friday afternoon and should resurface again later on Tuesday. In this period we can expect an average temperature ranging between 8° and 13°. The rest of the week, however, should moderately make up for the cold and wet weekend and we can look forward to temperatures reaching 20°.
“On average there will be partly cloudy to clear skies from the 16th to the 24th,” Bulo said. As for predictions exceeding the next 14 days, Bulo couldn't give an adequate prediction. SA weather office administrator Angie Muir supported his assertion, saying “we only have the weather forecast up to 7-14 days. Predicting the weather far ahead will never be adequate.”
SA weather service spokesperson Garth Sampson did however shed a little light on what to expect in the next few months. “There are no strong indications that the Eastern Cape can expect anything more than a normal winter. There will be no unusually high rains and the temperature will remain fairly consistent with what has been experienced in previous years,” he said.
