Cape Town – Capetonians have been cautioned to prepare for a cold front making landfall on Tuesday night, bring strong winds and heavy rain.
The SA Weather Service (SAWS) has advised a cold front would arrive tonight, bringing rainfall, but also strong north-westerly winds along the coast, reaching speeds of between 45 and 60 km/h.
The cold front will persist into Wednesday but is expected to be cleared by early Thursday morning. It will also extend along the south coast from tomorrow afternoon into Thursday.
Rough and choppy sea conditions are also predicted.
The SAWS issued a warning for coastal west and north-west wind with impacts including disruption to small harbours and ports over a short period time expected between Table Bay and Cape Agulhas.
This will also include difficulty in navigating small vessels between Cape Columbine and Stilbaai until Wednesday.
There was also a warning for interior north-west wind which may lead to localised problems for high-sided vehicles on the N1, N7, R321 and R43.
Localised damage to formal and informal settlements are expected tomorrow over the Cape Metropole, but also over the Western Cape interior on Wednesday.
There was also a warning for rain which is expected to lead to flooding of roads and settlements over the Cape Metropole, south-western parts of the Cape Winelands and western Overberg from the evening to Wednesday.
SAWS said general rainfall amounts of 20-40mm can be expected, while high lying areas can expect 50mm of rainfall.
Spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management, Chantel Alexander, said the City was making a plan to handle any weather-related issues should it arrive.
“All City services and external agencies are on standby to deal with any potential impacts from the predicted adverse weather conditions.
“Residents are urged to please exercise caution and to contact the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre on 021 480 7700 (from a cellphone) or 107 from a landline, in the event of an emergency,” Alexander said.
Cape Argus