In 2021, the Appalachian State University (ASU) and the University of the Free State (UFS) were awarded a large grant from the United States Embassy for the ‘Mountain to Mountain' project (2021-2023), which included three components: (i) development of a tutored Mountain master’s course (being finalised), (ii) capacity development and mentoring for women academics on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus (completed), and (iii) installation of five weather (meteorological) stations – one on the Qwaqwa Campus, and four in an elevation transect in the northern Maloti-Drakensberg. ‘Mountain to Mountain’ was conceptualised by Prof Geofrey Mukwada and Dr Grey Magaiza (UFS) in collaboration with Prof Jesse Lutabingwa (ASU).
The weather stations were installed between 2022 and 2023 and cover an elevation difference of 1,7 vertical kilometres – the only such elevation array we are aware of in Southern Africa. This array also includes the only functioning weather station in the alpine zone in South Africa.
In June and July 2024, the African Mountain Research Foundation (AMRF) sponsored a full calibration and service of the five stations, as well as the creation of a live feed portal for each station. This was done by Prof Alistair Clulow (University of KwaZulu-Natal) with assistance from Ms Zandile Mncube (UFS Department of Geography).
The weather stations are currently managed as a collaboration between the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU; logistics and relationship management), the UFS Department of Geography (capacity development, insurance), and the AMRF (marketing). They also form part of the ARU’s Mont-aux-Sources Long-term Social-Ecological Research Site instrument array and will also form part of the Northern Maluti-Drakenberg Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network (EFTEON) (a South African Environmental Observation Network [SAEON] research infrastructure).
The weather stations have already proven incredibly valuable in providing novel weather data not previously available. For instance, the Sentinel Car Park station logged winds of 157 km/h during a cold front in July 2024, indicating that our mid-latitude cyclones (‘cold fronts’) have mountain winds as strong as Category 2 hurricanes. A fire danger index will also soon be added to the live feed for use by the North-Eastern Free State Fire Protection Association. The stations also provide essential live data for the Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge in terms of risk management around mountain recreation, and we hope that the data will be able to feed into the South African Weather Service warnings and general climate modelling and forecasting in the region.