Cape Town - Tuesday’s cold and rainy weather conditions were just the beginning as the Cape Town Weather Office predicted another weak cold front to make landfall on Wednesday morning with light rainfall to continue until noon on Thursday.
Forecaster Lauren Smith said the rainfall should have cleared by the late afternoon, but it was predicted to move along the South Coast where showers were expected until Thursday.
After Thursday, the weather office confirmed that Capetonians could expect sunny conditions for the rest of the week. However, Smith said people should prepare for cold, wet and windy weather when a severe weather system occurred.
The City said the seasonal outlook received from the South African Weather Service (Saws) indicated below-average rainfall during autumn and the early part of winter.
This autumn looked to be an extremely windy one after Saws released a weather warning Level 1 for damaging waves from Wednesday at noon until Thursday at noon across Cape Town, Bitou, Cape Agulhas, George, Hessequa, Knysna, Mossel Bay and Overstrand.
Saws predicted significant wave heights of 4 to 5m to reach the south-western coastline from Wednesday afternoon, and spread along the South Coast until midday on Thursday.
“Difficulty in navigation at sea for small vessels, and small personal water crafts like kayaks, along with small vessels, are at risk of taking on water and capsizing. Localised disruption of small harbours and ports can be expected,” Saws said.
The City said it was prepared for the upcoming winter months through its winter readiness task team, which was co-ordinated by the Disaster Risk Management Centre and comprised a host of other departments.
“The risk of flooding during adverse weather episodes is a reality that many communities face each winter. This time of year also presents an increased risk of fires, as people turn to various sources of heating,” said the City.
To mitigate the impact of disaster situations on vulnerable communities with the cold and harsh winter months drawing near, Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said the Western Cape department had already operationalised its winter readiness programmes in each region across the province, with a special focus on assisting social vulnerability in informal settlements and remote rural areas.