Chilly weather raises hopes of sards in Durban
July 12, 2010. The cold weather that blasted through from the south west on Sunday is expected to linger for a few more days as cold winds continue to blow through large chunks of South Africa.
The Western and Eastern Cape reported cold weather and high wind speeds with temperatures as low as -6C (Vredendal expected to be -12C today), while further cold weather was expected in Cape Town. Wind speed at Port St Johns will reach 50km/h today. It’s expected the cold and rain will continue to move up towards Durban from the south. Ridge residents should get out their K-Way jackets and windcheaters, and brace themselves to clean up the pool, because reports from WeatherSA indicated “very cold with snow and gales” for KwaZulu-Natal.
Meanwhile, a positive spin-off of the frigid weather, is that there are fresh hopes of the sardine run reaching Durban North this year, with the shoal steadily heading north and baskets of sardines already netted on the KZN South Coast. According to the KZN Sharks Board’s Mike Anderson-Reade, the shoal has only reached Durban in three of the 30 years it has been monitored, but the cold snap could raise the odds of the fish hitting our shores. East Coast Radio Newswatch also reported that hopes for activity in the next few days were good with sardines already netted at Umgababa and Pumula in recent days.