Update #3, 15 May, 12pm: Snow continued to fall across South Africa’s Drakensberg and Lesotho’s Maloti mountains.
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First snow of 2017 #drakensberg #snow #2017 #winter #winterton #snowhunting #nature
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Descent into Rockeries pass. #mnwenimarathon #trailrunning #drakensberg #lovesouthafrica
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Update #2, 12 May, 4.30pm: Reports from Twitter suggest that it’s snowing in Lesotho, and the conditions are subsequently wreaking havoc on the country’s roads.
@TsepisoMakwetla Please warn My Fellow SAns to be ready for the cold weekend coming up, its now snowing in Lesotho #PmLive pic.twitter.com/xRzolIMS6F
— Fanyana D Mofokeng (@FanyanaMofokeng) May 12, 2017
Sleet and rain is making quite a mess in Maseru, Leotho. – Photo courtesy of Rob Roos. pic.twitter.com/HcCBX4HSO9
— Snow Report SA (@SnowReportSA) May 12, 2017
It has also begun snowing at the Sani Pass — the road pass between KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho.
Fantastic ride up the pass with the first snow of season !!!Hot Chocolate waiting , wow!! pic.twitter.com/o0jtcqjLTB
— Sani Mountain Lodge (@Briansanipass) May 12, 2017
Update #1, 12 May, 2.05pm: Another image of Tiffindell’s snowfall has been captured by Maarten den Heyer, and repbulished on Twitter by Gauteng Weather.
HEAVY SNOW blankets Tiffendell in the Eastern Cape for the first time in 2017! | Maarten den Heyer pic.twitter.com/oLzOh1bnr3 — Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) May 12, 2017
Tiffindell’s Facebook page also posted a number of snaps detailing the weather. The post has since received over 200 shares on the social network.
An earlier recorded still from Cathedral Peak Hotel’s live webcam in the Drakensberg shows snow on the mountain’s upper slopes.
Original article: It’s mid-May, and a cold front has just washed across South Africa’s interior. Those two things can only mean one thing: snow.
Snowfall was spotted and experienced in small pockets across the country’s higher regions today (12 May), according to social media.
While this first notable cold snap of the year isn’t yet blanketing the entire interior in white, fluffy frozen water, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have embraced the first winter flakes.
Lesotho’s AFRISKI, one of two ski resorts in Southern Africa, was first to take to social media to announce the weather’s arrival.
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… The first snowfall of the season has arrived! We woke up to the beautiful sight of a light dusting of snow this morning,” it wrote on Instagram from the Maluti Mountains.
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Tiffindell, in the Eastern Cape’s Drakensberg, also reported snow today.
First picture of the snow so far in the E cape, @Tiffindell_SA – thank you to Lizeka Lee Mateyisi. #snow #southafrica pic.twitter.com/7QtGFf9Pe9
— Snow Report SA (@SnowReportSA) May 12, 2017
Other reports on Twitter suggest that the N1 between Welkom and Kroonstad in the Free State has also experienced an icier form of precipitation.
R34 Welkom Kroonstad road. Please take caution when driving. @TrafficSA @CityOfWelkom @WelkomZA pic.twitter.com/NlG9oZIg6B
— Goldfields Traffic (@Gold_Traffic) May 12, 2017
ReenvalSA also later confirmed this on Twitter.
Haelstorms in Kroonstad @eNCA @SnowReportSA @OFMNews9497 @OvervaalStereo @CrcKroonstad @volksbladnuus @vslandbou pic.twitter.com/n5364FhYOw
— ReenvalSA (@ReenvalSA) May 12, 2017
The South African Weather Service tweeted that “Disruptive snowfall is possible in the mountainous areas of the NE parts of EC from Friday into Saturday”.
Watch: 12 May (Friday): Disruptive snowfall is possible in the mountainous areas of the NE parts of EC from Friday into Saturday.
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) May 12, 2017
“Very cold conditions expected to spread to escarpment of KZN, Highveld of MPU, NE FS on Saturday” as well as the “NE highground of EC, and Drakensberg areas of KZN”, it added in subsequent tweets.
Follow the snow online
If you’re on the coast or have no way to visit snow-capped mountains this weekend, the internet can help you out.
We’ve put together an essential list of Twitter accounts you should follow for updates about snowfall across South Africa. Access it right here.
Snow Report, a local website specifically attuned to covering South Africa’s annual dusting, allows users to monitor a number of live webcams across the country.
Additionally, we’ll be sure to monitor Instagram and Facebook this weekend and update this post accordingly with embedded images, the hashtags you can use to search social media, and related news from the internet.
Feature image: AfriSki (@SkiAfriski) via Twitter
This is a developing story. Refresh the page regularly for updates.
