Snow, rain in store for Western Cape

A strong cold front, with snow in its belly, might reach Cape Town by Monday evening.

Emergency services are prepared for any eventuality, said officials for the Cape Town and Agulhas municipalities after cold, wet and windy conditions were forecast for Tuesday over parts of the Peninsula, West Coast and Overberg.

Glen Roberts, an independent forecaster, said the cold front, which was set to bring rain on Sunday and Monday, was weakened by a second frontal system following hard on its heels.

"The second cold front seems strong. There will be rain over the Peninsula and West Coast. By Wednesday it will also rain in the Southern Cape."

Roberts said the rains would be nothing like last week's storms.

The South African Weather Service said a sprinkling of snow might be expected on the mountains in the southwestern Cape on Tuesday.

Cape Town and the Boland could expect an 80% chance of scattered showers on Tuesday.

A temperature of maximum 17°C was expected for Cape Town, with a wind of up to 50km/h at Cape Point.

Wynand Wessels, speaking for Cape Town disaster management, said the city's entire storm water drainage system would have been cleaned and in working order by Sunday night.

"We hope that there won't be a repeat of last week's rains, but the system will be able to handle normal showers."

Disaster area
Dr Willem Schonken, executive mayor of the Agulhas municipality, said specialist contractors were called in to blast-clean silted-up storm water drains.

"These contractors from Pretoria used high-pressure pumps to clean the drain pipes. We expect all the pipes in the municipal area to be cleared by Tuesday."

Schonken said chances were slim of having the municipality declared a disaster area after a meeting with a provincial task team on Friday.

"Perhaps if we had done nothing, the area might have been declared a disaster zone. After Friday's meeting, I have little hope that we will be assisted," Schonken said.

Moderate temperatures were forecast for the province on Monday. A maximum temperature of 23°C was predicted for Cape Town and Langebaan, while the mercury was expected to reach 26°C in Paarl and Oudtshoorn.

Cloudy conditions were expected over the Peninsula and the Boland. Showers might occur during the late afternoon.