A cold front is expected to blow through the Cape, with gusty winds and wild waves predicted. The South African Weather Service (Saws) urged communities to brace for colder temperatures and rough sea conditions.
The Saws has issued an Orange Level 5 warning for waves along the Eastern Cape from Friday, spreading eastwards on Saturday.
The forecaster said a tight pressure gradient between a cold front and a ridging high is resulting in gale-force to strong winds, with storm-force winds further out to sea, expected to reach up to seven metres high along the coast between Plettenberg Bay and Cape St Francis on Friday evening.
"This is expected to spread to Port Edward on Saturday morning with abnormal to rogue waves that may be possible in the Agulhas current between Port Alfred and Port Edward," Saws said.
The forecaster explained that a cold front is expected to pass the country, resulting in a tightening of pressure gradients over the interior of the province and strong winds with gusts that could cause damage.
Meanwhile, communities in the Western Cape are urged to brace for gusty winds on Friday.
"The passing of a well-developed cold front is expected to result in strong to near gale-force westerly to north-westerly winds of 55 to 62 km/h gusting up to 70 to 85 km/h, affecting the City of Cape Town, Overberg, and the Cape Winelands municipalities early on Friday morning, spreading to the Central Karoo and Kannaland by mid-morning. This will also affect Table Bay and Plettenberg Bay on Saturday.
"However, this will only become moderate along the south coast by Saturday morning," Saws said.
IOL