After a week of heat waves in the Western Cape, with temperatures touching 40'C in places, some welcome relief is at hand. Some frontal activity will be approaching from the west over the next week, and while no rain is expected for Cape Town, temperatures are forecast to remain in the lower to mid 20s, this being nearly half of that we've been experiencing over the previous few days.

This is of course to be expected as we head into March, probably the month of the year where those in along the Western Cape coast can really notice the end of summer in the air. Temperatures and jet-stream position in March tend to differ quite drastically with those in the heat filled month of February. And while I am in no way saying summer is completely over yet, the evidence of it's end sure is showing. Having looked at the GFS long term model, it would appear as though more rainfall can be expected for Cape Town and the Western Cape. For the other areas of the country it will likely be business as usual, though we are likely to see a slow decrease in the amount of typical summer thunderstorms in the areas up north. Though some good storms are still very possible right through to April.

For the Western Cape Autumn of late has been an interesting time for weather. In my experience majority of thunderstorms occur during the months of April through to May. Most of these cases tend to be cut-off low pressure systems which with some of the heat still present creates some decent instability and has the potential to pull tropical air down from the north. I'm hoping this year will follow the pattern of activity which has been evident over the past few years, but only time will tell.

Of course with South Africa's tornado seasoning nearing an end, the United States tornado season is just starting. As storm chasing has grown in popularity over the years, so has the number of chasers and the technology used when chasing. These days almost all storm seasons have a documentary crew running around with some chasers, you can even watching live streaming of chasers in the United States chasing tornadoes. Let's hope for something special this year, I know I'll be watching the SPC for information on upcoming potential outbreaks as we head into the U.S tornado season.