Winter is slowly making its presence known across South Africa, with the first snowfall of the year recorded this morning in the Swartberg Game Reserve.

Pretoria Rekord reports that as cooler, cloudier weather sets in, Pretoria and surrounding areas are bracing for significant rainfall this week, with up to 50mm expected.

Craig Geldenhuys from the Swartberg Game Reserve confirmed the snowfall today.

“I hoped the clouds would clear for better pics, but by the time they had cleared, the snow had all melted.”

Meanwhile, VoxWeather says cooler and cloudy weather will spread over central and eastern South Africa for the rest of this week.

“A combination of a surface trough and a ridging surface high, with a steep upper-air through, will bring stormy weather to large parts of the country, including parts of the Western and Southern Cape on Friday.”

Forecaster Michelle du Plessis says scattered showers are possible in Gauteng today, from late afternoon, with temperatures in the high 20s.

“No warnings have been issued for Gauteng at this time. Heavier rain and thunderstorms are possible on Thursday, with cooler temperatures in the mid-20s.

“By Friday, we can expect isolated to scattered rain and thunderstorms. It will also be mostly cloudy and cool, with temperatures in the low 20s.”

Du Plessis says the weekend will see warmer conditions with only a few possible showers.

“Between 30mm and 50mm of rain is expected across much of Gauteng by Friday evening.”

She says the expected rainfall is due to a combination of weather systems, including a surface trough and a high-pressure system, along with a steep upper-level trough that may develop into a cut-off low-pressure system over the Southwestern Cape later this week, bringing the expected rain and cooler weather.

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