By News24| Winter has hit SA in all its fury, sending snow, rain and even a tornado across the country on Monday, 25 July.
While some parts of the Eastern Cape and Free State are a vision in white, extreme weather conditions in KwaZulu-Natal are wreaking havoc. Motorists have been urged to drive carefully in the stormy weather, as a woman has gone missing after her car was swept off a low-lying bridge in Silverglen in Chatsworth, the search has since been suspended.
A second woman has also been reported missing in KZN on Monday night, after her car was found washed from the roadway in Glen Anil.
The South African Weather Service has confirmed record rainfall over the last 24-hours in KZN, with an estimated 203mm in Margate, 99.6mm in Durban south, while in Virginia162mm has fallen, Mt Edgecombe has seen 142.4mm of rain and massive 266.4mm has fallen in Paddock.
An estimated 133.8mm of rain has fallen in and around King Shaka, with the airport advising passengers to arrive early in order to avoid any issues due to possible delays.
While the rain and snow dominates in the three biggest coastal provinces, extreme weather of a different kind hit the more northern parts of SA in the

Magaliesburg. Mario Ferreira posted a video to YouTube, showing what he calls a “tornado going past Koesterfontein Magaliesburg on Monday afternoon, 25 July, at around 15:30”.
According to other residents in the area, including Katy van Wijk, the “tornado caused terrible damage”.
The extreme weather is expected to continue until Thursday, with an alert issued for severe thunderstorms with strong winds, heavy rains and possible large hail storms can also be expected over the central parts of the Free State, Gauteng as well as the central and eastern parts of the North West province.
The South African Weather Service says disruptive snowfalls are expected over the south-western and western high grounds of KwaZulu-Natal, the northern high ground of Eastern Cape and the eastern and southern parts of the Free State.
According to Garth Sampson for the SA Weather Service, the Eastern Cape has seen heavy rainfall during Monday night, 25 July. A whopping 52mm of downpour was measured in Barkley East at 08:00 on 26 July, while Grahamstown has had 54mm.
In Port Alfred along the Sunshine Coast, 58mm rainfall was recorded on Tuesday morning.
Along with the rain, snow has continued to fall in SA around the Drakensberg Mountains, as well as in Lesotho.
According to Lew Campbell at the Tiffindell Ski Resort in the Eastern Cape, the “big snow storm across the Drakensburg has piled 100cm snow on the slopes of Tiffindell. Roads in the area are currently closed and the ski lifts are snowed in!”