Weather service tells Western Cape to brace for high winds and rain

Damaging winds gusting as high as 80km/h-100km/h and large waves are forecast between Tuesday and Thursday in parts of the Western Cape, warns the SA Weather Service (Saws).

The storm is expected to see strong level 6 winds across the Garden Route, eastern Overberg, eastern parts of the Cape winelands and southern Central Karoo on Tuesday.

“A cold front is expected to affect the Western Cape on Tuesday, resulting in rain and showers over the western parts of the province. Rainfall accumulations in the western parts are expected to be 10mm-20mm, reaching 35mm-50mm in the mountainous areas of Cape winelands, City of Cape Town,” Saws said.

Waves between 4m and 8m are expected between Lambert’s Bay and Plettenberg Bay over the two days. A strong northwesterly to westerly wind of 60km/h-80km/h surging to 80km/h-100km/h is expected along the same stretch of coast.

“We call on people to be mindful of the expected severe weather. Soils are saturated from the recent rains, so we can expect trees being uprooted and damage to wind-exposed structures is possible,” said local government, environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell.

“The combination of high waves and strong winds is expected to cause very choppy and rough sea conditions. Please avoid activities along the coast and at sea. Of particular concern is recreational sailors in small boats and rock anglers.”

Saws warned affected residents of localised flooding in susceptible formal and informal settlements as well as minor motor vehicle accidents due to slippery roads and reduced visibility.

Strong to gale force winds destroyed the overhead entrance at a Cape Town shopping centre on Tuesday as the cold front barrelled into the province. Fierce winds toppled the structure, narrowly missing a pedestrian who stepped out of its path at Access Park in Kenilworth at 9.13am. Centre management said no injuries were reported and no stores were damaged. The main entrance to the centre had to be closed.

The SA Weather Service issued an orange level 6 warning for damaging winds across the province and parts of the Eastern Cape. Strong to gale force winds of 40km/h to 80km/h were forecast for parts of the Western Cape with gusts measuring 90km/h to 120km/h together with rain. Gusts from 90km/h to 110km/h were forecast for parts of the Eastern Cape. The Huguenot Tunnel on the N1 was closed for heavy vehicles in both directions.

City of Cape Town teams were attending to electricity outages but warned: “Damaged infrastructure may take longer to repair. The safety situation in an area also impacts repair work and restoration times as law enforcement escorts may be required. Regrettably, it is not possible to give an accurate time of restoration.”

The city’s disaster risk management centre was monitoring developments. “No incidents have been reported to the disaster operations centre, but we are mindful that some low-lying areas remain waterlogged as a result of the record rainfall experienced in July,” said disaster risk management spokesperson Charlotte Powell.

“City services are on standby to attend to any impacts that may arise, and our humanitarian partners are also on alert in the event soft relief is required.” 

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