Battered, icy Western Cape weathers chaos triggered by wild winds, rain and snow

The Western Cape has been battered by a powerful winter storm, leaving a path of destruction in most parts of the province, with strong winds and snow causing widespread disruptions and power cuts.

Following a record-breaking July, this winter has seen relentless rainfall. Severe weather conditions continue to affect the Western Cape, with powerful winds causing damage since Monday afternoon. In Kenilworth, a heavy structure at the entrance to Access Park collapsed due to strong winds on Tuesday, 27 August, with footage of the incident shared widely on social media.

Read more: July rainfall breaks records in Cape Town with more extreme weather to come

On Tuesday, The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued an urgent upgrade to the weather warning for damaging winds, from Yellow Level 2 to Orange Level 6, effective immediately for certain areas of the province. The SAWS issued an update back to level 2 on Wednesday morning. 

This came on the heels of a powerful cold front that swept past Cape Town on Monday, bringing a massive swell of up to 20 feet, according to Wavescape’s swell report.

The stormy conditions that accompanied the cold front caused widespread disruption in the province, with strong northwesterly winds, driving rain and chaos reported in many areas. 

Footprints in the snow on top of Table Mountain on 28 August 2024. (Photo: Table Mountain Aerial Cableway)

In contrast, according to the SAWS, some other parts of the country, such as Pretoria, will continue experiencing warm and sunny weather throughout the week, with a maximum of 29°C on Wednesday and only a slight chance of rain on Friday.

However, according to the weather service, a cold front is expected to hit Gauteng on Friday, 30 August, bringing a temperature drop to 6°C, with a forecasted maximum of 17°C in the province.

Impact of severe weather

The severe weather has also forced the postponement of the MTN8 semifinal first-leg match between Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates. Originally scheduled for Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday, it has been rescheduled for Wednesday, 28 August, at 6pm.

The decision to postpone the match was made after the City of Cape Town and stadium management reported gale-force winds averaging 67km/h. The intense weather conditions have resulted in structural damage, with buildings collapsing, trees falling and blocking roads, and stadium infrastructure being compromised, rendering it unsafe to host the match.

The low temperature has brought a rare dusting of snow to Table Mountain. Megan Taplin, park manager for the Table Mountain National Park, confirmed to Daily Maverick that they had experienced snow on Wednesday morning. 

Commenting on the rare sighting of snow, Selma Hercules, Executive Director at Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, said: ."We've had some light dustings of snow in recent years but today's snowfall was the first decent snow in more than 5 years."

According to the Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Sonica Lategan, the severe weather over the past 48 hours has left a trail of damage, with reports of fallen trees in Tierboskloof, Kenilworth and Bishop Lavis. City services have been deployed to remove the trees and clear the affected areas.

Snow covers a plaque on top of Table Mountain on 28 August 2024. (Photo: Table Mountain Aerial Cableway)

Snow litters the steps of a building on top of Table Mountain on 28 August 2024. (Photo: SANParks)

Emergency response under way

Disaster Management teams are conducting assessments in areas where roofs were blown off, including Silvertown, Bonteheuwel, Wynberg, Gugulethu, Heideveld and Kenilworth.

To provide support to those affected, humanitarian relief partners will be distributing essential items such as blankets, food parcels and vanity packs to those in need.

Colin Deiner, the chief director of Disaster Management in the Western Cape, confirmed that his team is working closely with Eskom to assist areas affected by the severe weather over the past two days.

“We’ve had very, very strong winds over this period, it’s been an ongoing thing,” Deiner said.

“I think where preparedness is concerned, we’ve perpetually been on alert throughout this period, dealing with a whole range of issues.”

Deiner noted that July saw one of the highest rainfall records in many years, according to the SAWS. Efforts are focused on addressing massive power outages in some parts of the province, with Eskom personnel working closely with the disaster management team. 

“We fortunately work very closely with Eskom, they come into our control centre; at the moment we are dealing with massive outages in the Hermanus, Grootbos areas and they are dealing with that.”

A tree took out some power lines in Primrose street and blocked the road after heavy winds. Bishopscourt, 28 August 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

A fallen tree damaged a school fence in Newlands in 27 August 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

After the Western Cape downgraded its weather warning level overnight, some areas continue to face strong winds and low temperatures and power outages. 

“It is a level 2 warning, which has come down from level 6 that we had overnight, and also various of the southern part of the Northern Cape. At the moment there are concerns very much around the Overberg area, where we’ve had a lot of wind. The Cederberg has had some snow overnight, the temperatures are very cold… and of course the strong winds. It’s a pretty widespread incident all over,” Deiner added.

“I think our concerns at the moment, the most critical issues we are dealing with, are the power outages, because they are quite widespread and a lot of people are affected. It’s a very important time for agriculture, a lot of farmers are affected… We also have high waves warnings… that is something we are also focusing on.”

He said Eskom has been actively assisting areas affected by power outages and “they should finalise that today, it all depends on the strength of the wind. At the moment the wind is pretty strong but we think that towards the afternoon, hopefully, that will be resolved.” DM