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Record dry start to 2019 in Adelaide

Ben Domensino, Wednesday April 24, 2019 - 10:43 AEST

Adelaide is on track to have its driest start to a year on record by the end of April.

Like much of South Australia, rain in Adelaide has been largely absent during the first few months of 2019.

As of 9am this Wednesday, the city's West Terrace weather station had only received 17.8mm of rain. This is well below the long-term January to April average of 108.2mm. It's also their lowest running total on record to this point in the year.

This year's running total at the city's nearby Kent Town weather station had reached a slightly higher 22.2mm by 9am on Wednesday. This is their second lowest year-to-date total on record, beaten only by 13.6mm during the same period in 1989.

However, Kent Town received 27.4mm of rain during the final five days of April in 1989. With little, if any rain forecast in Adelaide by the end of this month, both the West Terrace and Kent Town weather stations are likely to register their driest January to April periods on record.

This a notable feat, because data for these two weather stations combined dates back to 1839.

In addition to the unprecedented low rainfall during the opening months of 2019, Adelaide also set new temperature records earlier in the year.

Both the Kent Town and West terrace experienced their hottest day on record during January when the mercury reached 47.7 degrees and 46.6 degree respectively.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2019

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