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The good news is that there will not be any more rain this
winter. The bad news is that temperatures will be a tad cooler.
MANY people may well be wondering about the unseasonal rainy
weather Joburg has had so far this winter - the city is bang in the middle of a
summer rainfall area.
But the rains this year have been caused by northwesterly
winds from Angola and Zambia, caused
by upper troughs bringing moist air to the south. But the cold snap today is
expected to chase away the wet.
"The current cold front and the one expected tomorrow will
cause a southwesterly flow and I do not think that we will see further rain
this winter," said Evert Scholtz, a forecaster at the South African Weather
Service.
Scholtz said that daytime temperatures so far this winter had
been very mild because of the persistent northwesterly winds. This would change,
however, with the current cold fronts and the remainder of the winter would be
colder.
The word for this week is expect cold and wind. Scholtz
added that the next two weeks would be sunny and mild, but cold overnight. This
would be the case until 6 July as no major weather system was expected.
With the milder temperatures, there has also been no ice or
frost on the ground, in contrast to the previous two years. For further weather
inquiries, visit the South African Weather Service website
or call the
bureau on 082 233 9800.
Along with cold weather come shack fires as people use fire
and paraffin stoves to keep warm. Already, two people have been badly injured
after 20 shacks caught alight in the informal settlement of George Gogh about
10pm on 20 June.
Emergency management services' spokesperson, Percy Morokane,
said that although its workers were on strike, there was EMS
staff to deal with the fire. "Our people were there and we do have resources ... for
any unexpected winter instances."
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