432 snowstorms in the transvaal. 



The Snowstorm of i88i. 

 Commencing- on August 26th, 1881, there was a very severe 

 snowstorm, which extended over the High Veld of the Trans- 

 vaal; Mr. R. K. Loveday, M.L.A. (Transvaal), gives the fol- 

 lowing account of this storm : — 



"In Pretoria on the morning of the 27th August, 1881, was experienced 

 driving rain and sleet. A shglit fall of snow was stated to have taken place 

 in the early morning. The storm came from the south-east with a driving 

 wind and in the evening there was a black frost which killed guava trees five 

 years old and on the north side of the house, down to the ground. The snow 

 fell on the High Veld to a depth of iS inches during the dav and night of the 

 26th. The storm was just after the 1881 War, when some thousands of troops 

 were stationed at Newcastle, including one or two cavalry regiments. At 

 midnight on August 26th the horses commenced to die under their blankets 

 from the cold. All the men were turned out to build ramparts of snow to 

 break the piercing wind, thus saving many valuable animals that would 

 otherwise have perished." 



Mr. H. W. Struben was travelling from Xatal at this time 

 by horse carriage, and was overtaken by the storm at Zand- 

 spruit, near Volksrust, and snowed up for four days. There 

 was a terrific gale of wind, and on the lee side of the hills the 

 snow had drifted to the depth of ten feet in places. All along 

 the road to Pretoria, and thence to Kimberley, the losses in 

 stock, especially sheep and goats, were very heavy. Mr. 

 George Goch was at this time travelling by coach from Kim- 

 berley to Worcester, C.C., and found that the snow covered 

 a great part of the Karroo. 



Mr. J. N. Leslie, F.R.Met.S., of Vereeniging, Transvaal, 

 states that snow fell in Johannesburg on May 31st. 1892, to a 

 depth of 6 inches. 



In June, 1902, there was a great blizzard, and snow fell over 

 the High Veld in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, 

 over German South- West Africa, and over the mountain ranges 

 of Cape Colony and isolated parts of the Karroo. A detailed 

 account of this storm has been given in the report of the Asso- 

 ciation for 1904.* 



A little snow fell in Johannesburg on May 15th, 1903, but the 

 amount was very slight. Also on September loth, 1904, there 

 was a light fall over the High Veld. 



No snow was experienced at all during the winters of 1905, 

 1906, 1907, and 1908. 



The Snowstorm of 1909. 



Snow commenced to fall over the South and South-eastern 

 portions of the Transvaal at about midnight on Monday, 

 August i6th, 1909, and continued almost uninterruptedly until 

 about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, August i8th. 



As regards the Transvaal, the snow-fall was almost, but not 

 quite, confined to that part of the Colony which is about 5,000 

 feet above sea-level; i.e., the area included the districts of 

 Wakkerstroom, Ermelo, Bethal, Standerton, Heidelberg, and 

 Witwatersrand, and parts of Carolina, Lydenburg, Middel- 

 burg, Pretoria, Rustenburg', and Potchefstroom. 



* The Blizzard of June, 1902. C. M. Stewart, B.Sc. Report of the South 

 African Association for the Advancement of Science. 1904. Page 118. 



