Niël Terblanché
Temperatures as high as 30 degrees Celsius have been measured in towns of Namibia’s central and southern coastal areas on Thursday as the first real east wind conditions descended from highlands in the interior.
Motorists travelling between the main coastal towns had to take caution as dust clouds enveloped large areas and brought visibility on the road, causing possible hazardous driving conditions.
Wind speeds as high as 40 kilometres per hour have been reported along the coast while dust clouds enveloped the neighbourhoods facing the Namib Desert.
East weather or bergwind conditions are caused by air moving down from the escarpment in the interior of the country towards the coast. The air picks up speed and heats up as it descends. The quick movement of air is the cause of high temperatures, sand storms and dust clouds.
According to the Namibia Meteorological Service, the hot to very hot weather conditions that will be accompanied by sand and dust storms over most parts of the coast will persist for the rest of the weekend.
At the same time, the national weather service has warned that cold weather conditions are expected in the south on Saturday as well as central and eastern parts of the country on Sunday.
Frost is most likely to occur in the southern, central and eastern parts of the country on Sunday and Monday.
The cold front that will be moving in over parts of Namibia over the weekend is likely to cause rainy weather in the Karas Region on Sunday.
“Crop and small livestock farmers are advised to take the necessary precautions against extremely cold conditions,” the weather service warned.
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