SEE | July rainfall records have already been broken in the Western Cape | Business

July rainfall figures in the Western Cape broke new records this weekend.(Screenshot/Facebook/JP Smith)

• A series of cold fronts is affecting South Africa, bringing extremely cold conditions, heavy snowfall, and rain.
• In the Western Cape, July rainfall figures have been broken at weather stations in Swellendam, Tulbagh and Elim.
• The Cape provinces are expected to face two more cold fronts in the week ahead, says a meteorologist.
• For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.

South Africa is being hit by a series of cold fronts that has led to extremely cold conditions, gusty winds, heavy snowfall and rain.

Meteorologist Annette Botha says the strongest front moved over South Africa on Sunday, 7 July.

On that very day in the Western Cape, new rainfall records were broken for the month of July at three weather stations in Elim, Swellendam and Tulbagh.

New rainfall records were set for the month of July. The graph also shows previous records for July.

News24

Elim got its highest rainfall in eight years at 70.2mm. The previous record was set in July 2016 at 47.8mm.

Over a five-year period, Tulbagh’s new record for rainfall is 69.8mm, compared to 56mm recorded in July 2019.

Swellendam’s new record for rainfall is 30.4mm. The previous record 10 years ago was set at 26.4mm.

Across all weather stations in the Western Cape, the most rain, 123.8mm, fell in Ceres on Sunday.

By comparison, on Monday, the most rain fell in Kirstenbosch, at 33.2mm. Also on Monday, the lowest temperature since July 2021 was recorded at the Cape Town Harbour, at 2.2 degrees Celsius.

Three years ago, this was 2.5 degrees.

READ | ‘Like waking up in the Alps’: Heavy rain, snow hits Western Cape as multiple cold fronts roll in

Warnings of a storm surge along the coast were issued for Tuesday, leading to flooding, News24 reported.

The cold front on Sunday affected the whole country, but as it moves away, temperatures in the east are expected to recover, said Botha.

However, the Cape provinces will be affected by two more cold fronts on Thursday and Saturday. These won’t be strong enough to sweep across the rest of South Africa, Botha said.

While the cold fronts won’t nearly be as strong as those of Sunday, the ground is saturated, and more downpours mean there will be flooding. Warnings in this regard have since been issued for the City of Cape Town, the Winelands, Overberg and Cederberg districts.

Botha also said that it was normal for there to be strong fronts this time of year. “Strong weather systems, in winter over South Africa, are not unusual.”