Snow fell on the high Karoo, Hogsback and southern Drakensberg and the sea rose to the foot of carparks at Nahoon Point Reserve in East London as winter’s first storm hit with a vengeance.
SA weather stations measuring the ocean swell “could not be reached up to now” and forecasters extended their storm surge warning up to today at noon between Plettenberg Bay and East London, said forecaster Markus Geldenhuys.
It was too early to say how traffic had been affected by snow yesterday with traffic and police emergency officials not answering phones.
Wednesday night was quiet, but the front arrived with gusto at 8am yesterday as predicted.
By late afternoon, East London was being buffeted by sheets of rain driven by cold gusts.
Swells in front of the Esplanade rose from a placid half a metre at 6.30am to 4m walls, which broke 200m past the tip of the harbour wall and rumbled across the harbour mouth.
Tree branches fell on roads and pavements in the suburbs and there were reports of BCM workers clearing branches hanging on power lines in Gonubie.
All eyes were on the sea, which was still rising on a spring tide, and was expected to rise another metre on the high at 5.02pm.
“There could be some damage,” said Nahoon Point Nature Reserve management committee member Glen Holland.
The East London weather office said the temperature dropped to 12.3°C at 1.47pm and the wind hit 78km/h at 9am.
Geldenhuys said rain fell at all stations over the Eastern Cape, the most being 18.2mm in Grahamstown in the morning.
Snow fell at Hogsback, Graaff-Reinet, Cradock and the Drakensberg mountains.
At Barkly East, the temperature plunged to 2.6°C.
A windspeed of 210km/h was measured 7.5km above Port Elizabeth in the upper air.
OR Tambo district municipality’s chief disaster officer Vusumzi Mgobozi said despite a galeforce wind, no reports of damage had been received.
In Dordrecht, builder-journalist Tim Salmon said: “It’s freezing cold. We had some snow but it melted as it hit the ground. It is 2°C, windy and rainy.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Massive storm batters Eastern Cape
SA weather stations measuring the ocean swell “could not be reached up to now” and forecasters extended their storm surge warning up to today at noon between Plettenberg Bay and East London, said forecaster Markus Geldenhuys.
It was too early to say how traffic had been affected by snow yesterday with traffic and police emergency officials not answering phones.
Wednesday night was quiet, but the front arrived with gusto at 8am yesterday as predicted.
By late afternoon, East London was being buffeted by sheets of rain driven by cold gusts.
Swells in front of the Esplanade rose from a placid half a metre at 6.30am to 4m walls, which broke 200m past the tip of the harbour wall and rumbled across the harbour mouth.
Tree branches fell on roads and pavements in the suburbs and there were reports of BCM workers clearing branches hanging on power lines in Gonubie.
All eyes were on the sea, which was still rising on a spring tide, and was expected to rise another metre on the high at 5.02pm.
“There could be some damage,” said Nahoon Point Nature Reserve management committee member Glen Holland.
The East London weather office said the temperature dropped to 12.3°C at 1.47pm and the wind hit 78km/h at 9am.
Geldenhuys said rain fell at all stations over the Eastern Cape, the most being 18.2mm in Grahamstown in the morning.
Snow fell at Hogsback, Graaff-Reinet, Cradock and the Drakensberg mountains.
At Barkly East, the temperature plunged to 2.6°C.
A windspeed of 210km/h was measured 7.5km above Port Elizabeth in the upper air.
OR Tambo district municipality’s chief disaster officer Vusumzi Mgobozi said despite a galeforce wind, no reports of damage had been received.
In Dordrecht, builder-journalist Tim Salmon said: “It’s freezing cold. We had some snow but it melted as it hit the ground. It is 2°C, windy and rainy.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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