July has been a very dry month and the balmy days are stretching into August.

And with the warm, still weather, air pollution levels have soared. During the past week the city's air quality exceeded the UK standard on four days in parts of the metropole.

Pollution was so bad on Sunday, that the Cape Times phoned the fire department to ask whether there was a major bush fire in the peninsula. The fire department reported there was none, but said they had had calls from people who thought the pollution was smoke.

According to the South African Weather Services (SAWS) rainfall figures for July, usually one of the wettest months for the city, have more than halved.

While the long-term average rainfall for July is 84mm, this year's July average was only 41mm. Rain in May or June was not scarce, with a rainfall average of 95mm for May, higher than long-term average of 69mm, while June's average was 70mm, lower than the average 96mm.

But winter is far from over. The weather service says there is a cold front approaching - and they expect the Western Cape to receive higher rainfall than usual in August, September and October.

Article Continues: IOL

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment