Snow In Africa; Snowfall Greets Johannesburg And The South African Capital Pretoria [PHOTO]

Snowfall greeted the people of South Africa for the first time in five years on Tuesday. A strong area of low pressure at high altitudes, along with a deep pool of cold air, passed directly over South Africa on Tuesday, producing widespread snowfall.

"Heavy snowfall has been recorded in the Western Cape Mountains, the interior high ground of the Eastern Cape, Lesotho & Drakensburg," said the South African Weather Service.

"Light snowfall has been recorded in parts of the Central & Northern Freestate as well as in Southern Gauteng from Sandton to Vereeniging," it added.

The snow is said to have closed a number of roads, at least one high-altitude pass and several border posts in the country, the Associated Press reports.

According to South African Weather Service records, it has snowed in Johannesburg on only 22 other days in the last 103 years. The last snow fell there in June 2007.

In Pretoria, the South African capital, Snow filled the sky during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was the first snowfall there since 1968, according to AP

While snow in Africa is a most unusual occurrence, the biggest snowstorm to hit the South African province encompassing Johannesburg and Pretoria produced just 4" in September 1981, according to reports.