- Parts of South Africa and Lesotho were blanketed with snow over the weekend.
- The South African Weather Service issued a warning that the snow might be "disruptive" in some areas.
- Afriski Mountain Resort said they received an incredible amount of snowfall over the weekend, causing power outages and blocked roads.
Over the weekend parts of South Africa and Lesotho were transformed into a wintery wonderland as snow blanketed the ground.
The South African Weather Service issued a warning before the weekend that the snowfall might be "disruptive" in some parts of the country.
Some areas like the Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho received more snowfall than expected, causing road blockages and power outages.
According to Peter Peyper, managing director at the resort, they expected 5-10cm of snow, but instead received over 20cm of snowfall.
"High winds on Saturday night also caused snowdrifts to cover the roads. The diamond mine 40km's away sent in a bulldozer to clear the road allowing guests to leave safely by 14:00 on Sunday," he said.
Although the guests enjoyed the heavy snowfall and the conditions were great for skiing, it caused some issues for resort management, said Peyper.
Power
"We lost power for about four hours on Sunday because of ice on the power lines," he told News24.
According to South African Weather Services forecaster Kgolo Mahlangu, the snowfall is caused by a combination of systems, a cut-off-low and the South Atlantic high-pressure system.
Mahlangu said:
Some of the coldest maximum temperatures recorded were in Elliot (2 degrees), Shaleburn (2 degrees) and Giants Castle (4 degrees), said Mahlangu.
"Looking into the next seven days, we are expecting a series of cold fronts to brush along the coastal areas starting on Tuesday. We can expect some frontal showers and rain along the coast of the Western and Eastern Cape and their adjacent interiors, spreading towards KwaZulu-Natal," she said.