Post date: Aug 15, 2011 8:46:35 PM
The sight of snow in South Africa thrills some, but causes traffic problems near Durban as the bad weather shuts down some of the area's main roads.
VAN REENEN'S PASS, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA (AUGUST 15, 2011) (ABC - An unusually chilly cold front caused snow to fall in parts of South Africa on Monday (August 15), bringing joy to some, but causing traffic problems.
The main highway joining the provinces of Guateng and KwaZulu-Natal, called the N3, was shut down for parts of Monday morning, due to a thick white blanket.
The part of the route that bore the brunt of the snow and rain was the Van Reenen's Pass - a mountainous road along the 250 kilometre stretch between Johannesburg and Durban.
The road was reopened in the late afternoon.
Residents of Mooiriver, near the Van Reenen's Pass, are used to the cold weather. Last year they experienced equally cold temperatures and even thicker snowfall. But the sight is still somewhat a novelty in a country where sub-zero daytime temperatures are rare.
The Robinsons, whose garden was covered in snow, enjoyed a day of building snowmen, but also had to clear up damage caused by the bad weather.
"In the garden, all the branches that are broken off the trees. I had to pick all those up. Gutters that were broken. Just a lot of extra stuff," explained Carl Robinson.
His young daughter, Stacey, said the cold weather signalled fun for the family.
"I love the snow because I get to play around with my family and have snowball fights," she said.
In Johannesburg, where the snowfall was substantially lighter, residents also enjoyed the rare sight -- many stopping their cars to take a closer look. Children took the chance to throw snowballs at one another.
The cold weather is expected to continue into Tuesday (August 16).