‘Pure magic’: snow falls on Johannesburg for first time in 11 years

Residents of South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg, were stunned by the first snowfall in over a decade on Monday, with some children seeing snow for the first time.

While parts of South Africa regularly receive snow over the southern hemisphere winter months of June to August, Johannesburg last had snow in August 2012.

After getting her picture taken on Nelson Mandela Square in the financial district, Jennifer Banda told the Reuters news agency that she was pregnant the last time it snowed.

“Eleven years down the line, it’s exciting that we have snow,” she said.

People take photos as snow falls in Zoo Lake park in Johannesburg. Photograph: Wikus de Wet/AFP/Getty Images

On social media Johannesburg residents described the snow as “pure magic”, “hectic” and a “wonderful start to the week”.

University of Witwatersrand professor of physical geography Jennifer Fitchett told South Africa’s Times newspaper that the snow was unlikely to last, and had been caused by a surge in humidity, cold temperatures and a cold wind.

A man leads a horse as snow falls in Delta Park, Johannesburg. Photograph: Wikus de Wet/AFP/Getty Images

“It happens once every 10 years or so. We’re not an area that has a lot of snowfall and that’s partly because in winter we have dry conditions. We’ve got a strong, high pressure cell which is why we don’t have any or very little rain in winter months. And so don’t have much moisture in the air.”

It last snowed in 2012 and before that 2007, she said.

A view of a snow-covered streets during snowfall in Johannesburg. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Snow falls in Johannesburg once every five years on average, with heavier snow like that seen on Monday occurring once every 10 to 20 years, University of the Witwatersrand climatology professor Francois Engelbrecht told the Daily Maverick news website.

South African Weather Service meteorologist Wayne Venter told the Daily Maverick the conditions were not exceptional and could not be said to be due to climate change.

A woman throws snow in the air at a plaza in front of an office building in Johannesburg. Photograph: Wikus de Wet/AFP/Getty Images

South of the city in Brackenhurst, a Reuters photographer saw children making snowballs and snow angels in a school’s grounds.

But for others, like delivery driver Chenjerai Murape whose motorbike would not start, the snow made life difficult.

“I’m trying to warm the engine so that it can start … otherwise I will kick the bike all day,” he said.

Children play in the snow at Laerskool Orion, a school located in Brackenhurst, a suburb south of Johannesburg in South Africa. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

The South African Weather Service has issued warnings because of the cold front that has struck Gauteng province, which contains Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.

Snow also fell on Monday in the coal belt in Mpumalanga province, where many of struggling utility Eskom’s power stations are located.