PE headed for warmest winter on record in 70 years

This past July was the warmest in Port Elizabeth on record since 1950.

South African Weather Service spokesman in Port Elizabeth, Garth Sampson, said they had recorded an average maximum temperature of 22.8°C for the month.

“This was a whopping 1.2°C higher than the previous record of 21.6°C, recorded in 2010,” Sampson said.

“Furthermore, the average maximum temperature for the first two months of winter [June and July] were also the highest on record, at 22.4°C. The previous record occurred in 1999, when 21.7°C was recorded. We are thus heading for one of the warmest winters on record.”

Sampson, who said the records went back to 1950, added that the nighttime average of 8.2°C was closer to the norm of 8.3°C.

“This can largely be attributed to the lack of cloud, which was a result of considerably lower than normal rainfall figures,” he said.

“Although the 31.4 mm rainfall recorded for July 2018 was well below the norm of 51mm, it was far off the record low of 1.6mm measured in July 2005.

“The total rainfall of 146 mm was the second driest first seven months of the year since 1970 when 132.8mm was measured for the same period.”

Sampson said there was a “glimmer of hope for above normal rainfall in August” for Nelson Mandela Bay and its catchment areas before it fizzled out to below normal again for the rest of the year.