Snow in November in South Africa for the first time in 85 years

The snow, which fell across areas of the Eastern Cape province, comes less than two months after even more severe falls in the adjacent KwaZulu-Natal.

South Africa this week had its first major snowfall in November, a time of year when summer is approaching, in 85 years, according to the national weather service.

The snow, which fell across areas of the Eastern Cape province, comes less than two months after even more severe falls in the adjacent KwaZulu-Natal Province closed a major highway between the country’s biggest port and its industrial hub and led to the death of at least one person.

This week’s weather was caused by a so-called cut-off low — a low-pressure system that can bring cold air, heavy rainfall and snow, according to Lehlohonolo Thobela, a weather forecaster at the South African Weather Service. Authorities had considered closing mountain passes because of the falls, he said in an interview Tuesday.

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“The frequency of them seems to be increasing, especially in spring,” he said of cut-off lows. “Could it be climate change, could it be climate variability? They do happen from time to time.”

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