MOSSEL BAY NEWS - If you have thought we've had some exceptionally hot days this winter, you have not been wrong.

Mossel Bay residents have basked in berg wind conditions on several days over the past few months and it has felt like summer sometimes, although there have also been cold snaps and snow close by this season.

The Cape Town office of Weather SA, which gives comment on weather conditions for the whole of the Western Cape, has confirmed there have been record-breaking high temperatures this winter.

One can really "feel'' the reality of global warming. Although no records were broken in Mossel Bay, the following record highs in degrees Celsius, were recorded in June: Oudtshoorn 32.3°C on the 6th; Riversdale 32.5, also on the 6th; Vredendal on the West Coast 35.1C on the 2nd; and Robertson 31.5 on the 6th.

There were also a few records for July - all on 31 July: Vredendal 34.3; Clanwilliam 33.2; Malmesbury 31; Worcester 31.1; Robertson 31.3; Hermanus 32.0.

These are pretty hot temperatures for the middle of winter.

There was a record high at Cape Town International Airport on 31 July too: 33.2.

Weather SA Cape Town office spokesperson Stella Nake provided the following information: "Berg winds can lead to high temperatures along the coast and adjacent interior regardless of the prevailing season. Berg wind is a South African name for foehn wind, defined as hot dry wind that blows from the mountainous interior to the coast (Wikipedia), caused by adiabatic heating of air as it descends on the lee sides of mountains. 

"The winds may blow for several days or for a few hours and are most common in late winter and early spring (Preston-Whyte and Tyson, 1988). These winds are normally associated with dramatic rise in temperatures resulting in highest maximum temperature records over the coastal areas."

Nake provided the following high temperatures recorded on 20 August, an exceptionally hot day, but said they were not record temperatures: Mossel Bay 30; Knysna 32 and George 29. No comparative temperatures were available for later in August at the time of going to press.

'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'