Weather News

Unseasonable warmth continuing for South Australia

Craig McIntosh, Sunday April 22, 2018 - 16:56 AEST

A slow moving airmass and mostly sunny skies has brought well above average temperatures to much of SA, and will continue to on Monday.

A very warm airmass is slowly drifting across South Australia ahead of a cold front, bringing much warmer conditions than is normal for April. The only districts to not have a city or town exceed 30 degrees on Sunday were the Upper South East and Lower South East, although Keith was around five degrees higher than normal.

Adelaide reached 32 degrees on Sunday, a whopping 10 above average. That makes it four days in a row over 30 degrees, and the capital city is currently running at five above the April average maximum. Last year in April, only two days made it just over 30 degrees, as well as the year before that.

Tarcoola reached a maximum of 35 today, a balmy eight degrees above normal. Port Augusta was one of the hottest places in SA on Sunday, reaching 35.9 around 2:30pm, which was a little bit hotter than Oodnadatta at 35.7. Port Augusta was a couple of degrees hotter today than is normal for January.

In addition to the unseasonable warmth, there continues to be a lack of rain, resulting in most of the state having rain deficiencies and very dry soil. Root zone soil moisture is well below 10% in most places, including the agricultural areas.

The late season warmth will continue on Monday, with most places a similar temperature to what they were on Sunday. Adelaide has a good chance of having its fifth day in a row over 30 degrees. A cold front will begin to cross the state later on Monday, bringing more mild temperatures on Tuesday. The front will bring some much needed rain to some southern parts of the state, albeit not enough to please most who need it. The heaviest falls look to be around eastern parts of the West Coast and the Eyre Peninsula, with 5-15mm likely in some parts.

A very broad high pressure system is following the cold front, and will generally clear the skies over SA for the remainder of the week.

- Weatherzone

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Generation gone with the wind

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