"Historic Snowfall Hits South Africa ... Rare Snow Blankets Chilean Desert"

 Source:

https://electroverse.net/historic-snowfall-hits-south-africa-rare-snow-blankets-chilean-desert-disappointing-temps-besiege-europe-la-nina-watch-cme-update/

"The South African Weather Service (SAWS) had issued a Level 4 Warning for the weekend as “disruptive” snow and record cold threatened to sweep the nation’s higher-elevations, including the Drakensberg.

A SAWS statement read: “widespread snowfall is expected on the high-lying areas with disruptive snow in the south-west.”

However, the flakes fell much further afield than forecast — in Hilton, Hillcrest, Dalton and other parts of the province, too.

Even low-lying regions such as Drummond copped a historic blast of wintry showers.

Sleet fell here, for the first time ever!

“There were was huge excitement,” said Drummond resident and SAPeople contributor Carol Malley.

“Very rare indeed,” she added.

It was snowing in Killarney, for the first time in living memory.

An excited Juandre Vorster (aka The Weather Hooligan) said:
    “Staff arrived at Killarney before dawn on the morning of Saturday 28 August, to find sections of the infield still blanketed with snow!”

Juandre shared photos from KZN residents which showed areas covered in snow for the first time in recorded history:

Temperatures plunged upon the arrival of the intense polar front.

In response, residents cranked up their electricity usage–but with this being South Africa, a high volume of electricity faults were soon reported across KZN.

Utility company Eskom issued a statement, saying it would endeavor to restore power “as quickly as possible”.

However, unplanned power interruptions continued into Sunday, Aug 29 keeping large swathes of the region in the dark and without heat as the record cold and historic snow persisted.

Substantial flurries were reported in other parts of the country, too — particularly in the Eastern Cape:


Rare Snowfall Blankets Chilean Desert

A rare dumping of late-season snow has surprised the residents of El Salvador, a small town located in the Chilean desert of Atacama.

Such substantial accumulations are rare for late August, explains local local meteorologist Daniel Diaz.

Even in June or July this event would be considered relatively uncommon, occurring once every 3-or-so years; but heavy settling snow as the month of September looms (aka spring in the southern hemisphere) is “unusual,” says Diaz.