More widespread and low-level snowfall on the way from this weekend

23 July 2024 [updated 26 July 2024]
By Staff Writer


Light to heavy snowfall is indicated in the data for three South African provinces as well as Lesotho for this weekend and into next week.

The South African Weather Service have also issued quite a number of weather warnings for this weekend and flooding is a possibility in some areas.

ALSO READ: Disruptive rain, damaging winds & waves, and snowfall expected this weekend.

The heaviest snowfall is currently indicated for late Saturday and overnight into Sunday, with more snowfall possible on Sunday and more snowfall possible on Monday and Tuesday.

Some high-level snow is possible on the Western Cape high-peaks on Friday, and up to 20cm of fresh snow looks set to fall on the highest of the Western Cape mountains between Saturday and Tuesday, with most snow falling overnight on Saturday/Sunday.

This includes the peaks and high mountain passes around Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Wellington, Tulbagh, Franschhoek, Rawsonville, Worcestor, De Doorns, Villiersdorp, Grabouw, Greyton, Genadendal, Robertson, Montagu, as well the Cederberg and the Koue Bokkeveld.

The low-level snowfall is mainly indicated for Saturday afternoon and overnight and may be as low down as 1100m. This is almost as low as the recent snowfall, so there is a strong chance of 5-10cm of snow falling on the Bo-Swaarmoed Road near Matroosberg Reserve, the Theronsberg Pass (R46), the N1 between De Doorns and Touws River and the Rooihoogte Pass (R318) late on Saturday and overnight into Sunday.

Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve outside Franschhoek looks like it will get a good amount of fresh snow from Saturday afternoon but for those wanting to do some hiking Monday would be a better day (Sunday if you're experienced at hiking in a storm).

Please read our article on snow safety below.

Beaufort West, Murraysburg, Swellendam and the Swartberg range from Ladismith and towards the east past De Rust are currently in the snow zone. The Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert may to get a light dusting of snow on Saturday evening.

The high ground around Uniondale and Willowmore is also indicated on the map.

Sutherland and the southern part of the Northern Cape looks like it will get some snowfall this weekend, with areas like Calvinia, Fraserburg, Carnavon, Richmond, Loxton and Noupoort indicated on the snow map.

Parts of the Eastern Cape are again on the radar for light snow on the weekend, as are the southern mountain ranges near Willowmore, and Storms River. Areas currently indicated on the snow map include Graaff-Reinet, Nieu-Bethesda, Cradock, Hogsback, Somerset East, Molteno, Dordrecht, Barkly East, Rhodes and the high passes near Tiffindell.

KwaZulu-Natal is no longer on the radar for this period, but there is more snow on the radar beyond this forecast and we will be posting a forecast for it in a few days time.

Lesotho is also on the radar for some light snowfall between Sunday and Tuesday, as per the map.

According to the current data, low-level snowfall that will probably result in some mountain passes being challenging to drive with an ordinary vehicle is possible in some areas (especially the Western Cape and around Sutherland in the Northern Cape).

ALSO READ: Be prepared for safe winter travel and snow chasing trips.


The map indicates where we are seeing the possibility of snow, but it may not fall in all of the areas shown on the map. As with any forecast of any kind (temperature, clouds, rain, wind), what eventually happens may or may not be similar to the forecast.

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