SAWS says another snowstorm ‘unlikely’ in near future
The South African Weather Service says it does not expect another severe snowstorm in the near future.
"In the first two weeks, this week and next week, certainly not, but in the future, perhaps next year, we will see such events," said senior forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng.
The service briefed the media on Tuesday morning on weather patterns and predictions.
Two weeks ago, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State were hit by a heavy snowstorm, which left more than 800 motorists trapped on the N3 near Van Reenen's Pass.
A 39-year-old woman died from hypothermia.
Mofokeng was part of the team monitoring the storm and said they will be better prepared in the future.
"It was easy to identify the N3 as a potential route to be closed, but we did not only identify the N3. We also identified the N11 and the N5.
"We are using impact-based forecasting which considers both vulnerability as well as the impact. What happened is, we saw the model showing the accumulation of snowfall, so the likelihood of the event was well identified."
