There are a number of institutions and organisations that produce and distribute weather and climate information. Some of the major sources of such information for South Africa and the Western Cape are given below;
South African Weather Service (SAWS)
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) (formerly the Weather Bureau) is an agency under the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and a Board of Directors governs it. It company became a public entity on 15 July 2001 in terms of the South African Weather Service Act (No. 8 of 2001).
In terms of the Act, the company provides two distinct services, namely public good services which are funded by government, and commercial services, where the user-pays principle applies.
The website for SAWS, http://www.weathersa.co.za, may be viewed for the range of products that they provide. ( Source: http://www.weathersa.co.za/Corporate/History.jsp )
Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG)
The Climate Systems Analysis Group, is a research group based in the Environmental and Geographical Science department at the University of Cape Town. It is a dynamic group of multi-disciplinary scientists with research projects linked to all aspects of the climate system.
As part of their work, CSAG produces and provides seasonal forecasts and current weather information around the Cape Peninsula. These products are made available to the general public via their website http://www.csag.uct.ac.za and the myWeather website – http://www.myweather.co.za.
1st Weather
This website is owned by the Stormchaser Inc. company and was formed in January 1997, in Cape Town by Kevin M. Levey, currently located in San Francisco, California, where he joined CustomWeather in 2005 as their Director of Meteorological Operations.
(Source: http://www.1stweather.com/info/company.shtml)
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry is the national government department and the custodian of South Africa's water and forestry resources. It is primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy governing these two sectors. It also has overall responsibility for water services provided by local government.
The DWAF website provides some important information from the various dams and rivers around the country. These include dam levels and well and flow conditions and local weather conditions at these locations. More on this may be obtained via their website – http://www.dwaf.gov.za
(Source: http://www.dwaf.gov.za/About.asp)
Global Forecasting Centre of Southern Africa
The Global Forecasting Centre of Southern Africa (GFCSA), facilitates co-operation between centres within southern Africa that run an operational global scale long-range forecasting system. A long range forecast is considered to be from 30 days up to 2 years, as a result the GFCSA provides forecasts that are produced by various institutions using different methods. These forecasts are updated on a monthly basis and may be viewed on their website – http://www.gfcsa.net
OverbergAgri
Overberg Agri is gesetel in die Overberg is gefokus op twee aspekte wat van wesenlike belang is vir die aandeelhouers naamlik: Volhoubaarheid en Welvaartskepping.
Windguru
Windguru.com provides weather forecasts based on numeric models and other related information, especially for windsurfing, kitesurfing, yachting and other sporting activities, from the Czech Republic. http://www.windguru.cz/int/help_index.php?sec=terms