A series of cold fronts brought severe weather and record-breaking rainfall to the winelands and Cape Town in July, with at least 12 weather stations reporting more than 300mm of rain, according to data from the South African Weather Service.
Most of the rain fell in towns along the mountain ranges of the Boland and the Hottentots Holland. Franschhoek received 619.2mm, making it the town’s wettest month on record.
Kenilworth race course in Cape Town recorded 563.2mm, the second-highest amount in the province. In Newlands, 5km away, Kirstenbosch national botanical gardens recorded its wettest month since 1999 with more than 500mm of rain.
July’s rainfall is the highest recorded in Cape Town for the month in the past 60 years, says Prof Guy Midgley from Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies. This is despite a drier-than-normal start to the winter.
Based on records dating back to 1901, the Western Cape typically receives an average of 41mm of rain in July.