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Cloud teasing SA but rain still a way off

Brett Dutschke, Monday March 2, 2015 - 15:02 AEDT

South Australia is enduring one of its longest dry spells in years and despite cloud moving in from the northwest today, significant rain relief is a long way off.

Cloud streaming in from Western Australia is only bringing a few spots of light rain east of the Nullarbor due to an area of high pressure over the region.

A weak low pressure trough is struggling to develop over SA and should only bring decent falls to the Nullarbor and Great Victorian Desert during the next few days.

High pressure should remain dominant over the south of the state for at least another week, possibly two. Every few days a weak front is only going to deliver a few millimetres of rain south of about Adelaide while the earth further north ramins dry and cracked.

Lameroo, Kadina, Whyalla and Port Augusta have recorded any rain since mid-January, seven weeks ago. Some northern Adelaide suburbs and parts of the Mid North have not recorded rain in six weeks.

Adelaide itself has only gained one millimetre in the past 46 days, its longest spell with so little rain in eight years.

There is a chance that the city will fail to record anything in the gauge this Thursday and Saturday when two weak fronts pass and the next best chance may be another week away.

It may turn out to be the city's longest spell with so little rain in 13 years. In early 2002 Adelaide endured 62 days with a total of only one millimetre.

This is typically the driest time of the year but it is currently drier than the same time last year. It's as if the tap was switched off in mid-January. Gardens, parks and dams are all suffering despite near-average rainfall during the first half of summer.

Mt Bold, Adelaide's largest dam, is down to 45 percent capacity, its lowest level since winter 2013.

- Weatherzone

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