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Heaviest April rain in over 100 years for parts of SA

Guy Dixon, Friday April 17, 2015 - 11:58 AEST

Persistent rain and slow moving thunderstorms deliver the heaviest April rain on record for parts of South Australia, and the second heaviest rain total for any month.

A low pressure trough which has been bringing widespread impacts to much of central and southern Australia has delivered some exceptionally healthy rainfall to the Flinders, Pastorals, Riverland, Eyre Peninsula and West Coast.

Quorn managed to top the list with a monumental 112mm falling to 9am today. This is the heaviest April day of rain on record. The previous April high was set in 1889 with 65.3mm falling to 9am. This also went down as the second heaviest 24 hour total for any month in at least 100 years worth of records. (Records for this site began in 1881, however there is is a gap between 1901-1905 and 1905-1907. Therefore we can only say this this was the second heaviest 24 hour total since at least 1907). The only higher rain event was recorded in March 1921 which saw 123.4mm in 24 hours.

Hawker posted 56mm, going down as the heaviest April rainfall in 35 years. Ceduna and Elliston followed closely behind marking their heaviest April rainfall since 1983 with 34mm and 25mm respectively. Cleve was lucky enough to see 29mm, the heaviest April fall since 1989 while Loxton picked up their most substantial rain since 2007 with 22mm.

Southern parts of the parched pastorals also joined in the fun with Yunta collecting 393% of the April average in just 24 hours. The 48mm which collected in the bottom of the gauge also went down as the heaviest rain event since February 2011.

Woomera saw the heaviest burst of rain picking up 6mm in 10mm as a thunderstorm moved directly overhead in the early hours of the morning. By 9am, they had received 23mm in total, the heaviest April rain in 5 years.

This trough will continue slowly ambling east today, however heavy rainfall will continue to be a significant risk over a very similar area. Yunta has already picked up a further 18mm, pushing the monthly total over 4 times the average.

The Flinders, Mid North, Riverland, Murraylands and Yorke Peninsula all have the risk of seeing widespread falls of 50mm. It won't be until Saturday that the rain clears to the east, leaving just isolated showers over northern parts of the North East Pastoral where 10-15mm is a chance.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2015

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