

SNOWSTORMS IN THE TRANSVAA 



By H. E. Wood, M.Sc, F.R.Met.S. \-^ ^''^^s^ 



The great snowstorm of August i6tli-i8th. 1909, when 

 snow fell over a great extent of country, including the South 

 of the Transvaal, the North-west of the Orange River 

 Colony, and the higher parts of Natal, was such a 

 remarkable meteorological occurrence, and one of such 

 rarity, that it has seemed worth while placing" an 

 account of it on record. On the morning of August 

 17th, 1909, the town of Johannesburg, for the first time in its 

 history, was covered with snow to a depth of several inches. 

 To many of its inhabitants, particularly the younger genera- 

 tion, the sight of snow w'as quite new. The result was that 

 the unusual event was celebrated by a general holiday in the 

 town. . 



There have been some light falls of snow, which will be re- 

 ferred to later, during the last few years, but within the last 

 60 years, a period which almost covers the history of the Trans- 

 vaal, there have been only three great snowstorms. These 

 were experienced in the years 1853, 1881, and 1909. It may 

 be worth noticing that these have occurred at intervals of 28 

 years. 



The Snowstorm of 1853. 



In the year 1853 (the date being about September 12th) there 

 was a great snowstorm over Eastern South Africa. As far as 

 can be ascertained the area over which this snow extended was 

 practicallv the same as that covered by the present storm of 

 1909. 



General D. J. E. Erasmus states that the fall of snow ex- 

 tended over a period of eight days. There were great losses 

 of stock over the High Veld of the Transvaal, and two white 

 people with their trek-oxen succumbed to the great cold at the 

 Jukskei River, a few miles north of the Witwatersrand. Mr. 

 'H. W. Struben, in speaking of this snowstorm, said that 



" The snow lay on the Drakensberg Mountains for several months and 

 that tens of thousands of quagga, blesbok, black wildebeest, springbok and 

 hartebeest besides smaller antelopes perished in the snowdrifts in the deep 

 ravines of the mountains where they had taken shelter ; birds died in swarms, 

 and there was much loss of domestic stock, sheep, goats and cattle." 



In August, 1869, snow fell heavily for three days over 

 Northern Natal, but there is no information available as to 

 w'hether this storm extended to the Transvaal. 



The Meteorological Records of the Army Medical Depart- 

 ment made at Fort Napier, near Maritzburg, from 1862 to 1886, 

 show that in addition to the snowstorm of 1869, snow^ also fell 

 there in September, 1873, and July, 1874, but no further record 

 is known of this.*' 



* It is more probable that snow was seen lying on the heights above Maritz- 

 burg than that snow actually fell in Maritzburg. 



