Light snowfall covered the Sani Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, creating picturesque white-coated mountains, but led to tour cancellations due to slippery conditions. (Supplied/Sani Pass Tours)
- Light snowfall covered the Sani Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, creating picturesque scenes, but led to tour cancellations due to slippery conditions.
- The SA Weather Service issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive snow in the Eastern Cape escarpment and KZN high grounds, which is expected to persist through Tuesday.
- No further significant snowfall is expected for the week, with temperatures in KZN expected to rise and hot weather likely to set in by the weekend.
Light snow fell on the Sani Pass, a mountain pass connecting the west of KwaZulu-Natal with Lesotho.
According to Sani Pass Tours, most of the snowfall was recorded in the early hours of Monday, and they were woken up by a cold front with “beautiful, white-coated mountains”.
Snow videos made their rounds on social media on Monday.
The area was still covered in snow on Tuesday morning.
This after the South African Weather Service issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive snow along the Eastern Cape escarpment and KwaZulu-Natal high ground, which is expected to persist through Tuesday.
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Speaking to News24, Sani Pass Tours’ Esme Clacton said: “Whenever there is rainfall, we know that there will be snow. This morning [Tuesday], the sunrise was so beautiful, and there were some nice pictures. Some people do come down for just snow, but many come for the drive to the mountains. The sad part is that you can’t drive up the mountains whenever there is snow because it’s slippery,” said Clacton.
Clacton said that on Monday, Sani Pass Tours had to cancel a tour up the mountains due to heavy snow, which made it difficult to drive. She said the road could be dangerous when there’s snow, and it turns to ice, which is slippery.
“Obviously, people get disappointed when they can’t take the tour, but we can’t take the risk. Today [Tuesday], we also cancelled the tour to the mountains because there is still heavy snow on the ground,” she said.
The SA Weather Service issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive snow in the Eastern Cape escarpment and KZN high grounds, which is expected to persist through Tuesday. (Supplied/Sani Pass Tours)
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Clacton said that there was less snowfall compared with the same season last year.
SA Weather Service forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela said high-lying areas like the Drakensberg mountains and some places in the Western Cape experienced heavy snowfall.
But he said the snowfall was not severe as it didn’t result in road closures or have any significant impact.
Thobela said no further snowfall was expected anywhere in the country for the rest of the week.
“There won’t be any snowfall for the next week or two. But tomorrow there could be strong winds on the coast in the morning and about 30% [chance] of showers and rainfall,” said Thobela.
SA Weather Service forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela said high-lying areas like the Drakensberg mountains and some places in the Western Cape experienced heavy snowfall. (Supplied/Sani Pass Tours)
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This applied to the south-east coast of KwaZulu-Natal and areas such as Drakensburg, Pietermaritzburg, and Underberg.
Thobela said temperatures in KwaZulu-Natal would pick up from Wednesday, and areas such as Pietermaritzburg could become very hot during the week.
In the Eastern Cape, the snow-prone Barkly Pass on the R58 between Barkly East and Elliot was covered with snow on Monday and Tuesday morning.
Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said areas such as Maletswai (formerly Aliwal North), Rhodes, and Ugie also had snowfall on Monday and Tuesday.
“However, there were no road closures. The snow was more of a threat to livestock as it covered the mountains and bushveld,” said Binqose.
Additional reporting by Sithandiwe Velaphi
