It's winter time in Africa. Skiing, snowboarding, and building a snowman in the South African winter months of June, July and August is a common event. Africa has 14 ski resorts since snow falls regularly over parts of Africa. Frosty the snowman would happy in Africa.
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| Fashionable African Snowman |
It's a common
misconception that Africa is hot all the time. In the winter
months of June, July and August, snowfall is common in towns in
South Africa.
Sutherland is the
coldest town in South Africa, with an average yearly temperature of 52°F.
Lowest temperature in Sutherland averages 37 °F. Buffelsfontein is actually a privately owned
farm in Cape Town South Africa holding the official lowest temperature record in
the country; it is on this farm where the official record for the coldest night
ever in South Africa was recorded, a freezing 0°F. Buffelsfontein record was
recorded on June 18, 1996 and because of this, the weather service officially calls
Buffelsfontein the coldest town in Africa. The coldest temperature recorded in
Sutherland was 2°F on July 12, 2003.
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| Walking to school in the South African snow |
Averaging the lowest
monthly temperatures from the years 2000-2012, the annual average low temperature
in Buffelsfontein was 49°F while Sutherland's was 44°F. Sutherland is
consistently colder; however, Buffelsfontein holds the record for the coldest
day. The debate will continue for the claim to fame of the coldest town in
Africa however one fact is clear, it does snow in Africa.
Basutoland was
renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. This tiny Kingdom of Lesotho has a ski resort high on the cold African snowcapped mountains. The
ski resort, AfriSki has a ski run down a side of a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding,
and other cold weather mountain sports. The AfriSki Resort opened in 2002 and is the
highest ski resort in Africa. AfriSki is located in the Eastern Free State of
Southern Africa. Lesotho is known as the Kingdom in the Sky due to its
highlands where many of the villages can be reached only on horseback, by foot
or light aircraft. Frosty the snowman travels to Lesotho Africa each year to enjoy the South African winter snow.
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| Ready to build a snowman |
Where else can you ski
and make a snowman in Africa? Algeria, Egypt and Namibia have one ski resort,
South Africa has three and Morocco has seven ski resorts in the Atlas Mountains;
Oukaïmeden, Michlifen, Jbel Hebri, Azrou, Rif Gebirge, Djebel Bou Iblane, and
Hoher Atlas. Regular snow fall has created ice-capped peaks on Kenya's Mount
Kenya, Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro; Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains and Ethiopia's
Semien Mountains. It's not enough to ski but frosty the snowman would still be
happy.
