Cape Town - The SA Weather Service has predicted a much cooler week for Cape Town and the surrounding towns, following a blazing hot weekend where temperatures in and around the city soared above 40.
In its latest weather bulletin, the weather bureau said much cooler conditions were expected for Cape Town and the surrounding areas in the week ahead. The highest temperature for this week is set to be 26ºC, with a minimum temperature of 20ºC.
This is a big contrast from the past weekend’s severe weather, when Cape Town was above 36ºC with some parts a scorching 44ºC, similar to the towns outside of Cape Town, which also experienced very high temperatures.
Towns such as Stellenbosch, Paarl, Clanwilliam and Oudtshoorn which received a Fire Danger Index (FDI) above 75, cautioned of possible damaging veld fires. Looking to seek reprieve from the heat hundreds of residents took to the beaches, and swimming pools over the weekend.
The weather service has predicted cloudy to clear skies from today to Friday. Cape Town residents should expect partly cloudy weather, morning fog, and moderate southerly winds that will change from fresh to strong into the afternoon.
The Central Karoo was expected to have extreme temperatures, and the weather bureau has released a high fire danger warning for these areas.
Several veld fires are raging in parts of the province. The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Fire Services were yesterday fighting two.
They said the one in Agter-Vinkrivier in the Robertson Valley was the more concerning one.
The fire which was started by lightning yesterday afternoon was burning out of control.
“The fire teams have identified areas where lines are currently burning actively in the mostly inaccessible areas of the Langeberg Mountains.
“The fire line is very large and due to a combination of factors including inaccessibility, the effective deployment of resources and in the interest of the protection of lives, infrastructure and property, the fire teams will act pro-actively.
“The progress of the fire is being monitored by teams on both the Montagu and the Robertson sides.
“These teams will focus their resources on preventing the fire from reaching property,” the municipality said in statement.
“The fire in the Pearl Valley, Paarl is mostly contained. The dense vegetation, most of which is still smouldering, is causing a lot of smoke. At this stage fire-fighting activities are going well, however, teams are concerned that the wind may pick up causing sparks to travel to the nearby thatched structures,” the statement said.