Weather News

Wet end to winter in South Australia

Ben Domensino, Monday August 29, 2016 - 14:57 AEST

The final rainband of the season is sweeping across South Australia today, but the heaviest rain is going to fall where it shouldn't.

South Australia is divided into two areas based on the land's ability to support cropping. Goyder's Line separates the agricultural areas in the south, where there is sufficient annual rainfall for crops, from the drier pastoral areas to the north, which are too dry.

Winter is the wettest time of year for the agricultural areas as fronts become more frequent and this year has been no exception.

June was the wettest in 15 years for South Australia as a whole, with both Whyalla and Mount Gambier registering the wettest June on record.

July was a patchier month. Much of the state's northeast was unusually dry, while parts of the west and southeast recorded well above-average rain. It was the wettest July on record for Strathalbyn and the second wettest in 20 years for Adelaide.

August has been a mixed month in terms of rainfall. Some areas along the West Coast and Eyre Peninsula have seen less than half the monthly average so far. By contrast, Whyalla and Price had received one and half times their August average by 9am today.

A cold front being fed by tropical moisture is currently spreading a band of rain and embedded storms across South Australia. The rainband is moving from west to east affecting all parts of the state.

The heaviest falls look like they will be in the typically drier Pastoral and Flinders districts, north of Goyder's Line. Adelaide will continue to see bouts of rain into the evening along with the odd storm.

Rain will clear from the state on Tuesday, although isolated showers and storms are still a chance for most parts of the state. Only a few light showers will be left over for the last day of winter.

Adelaide's wetter-than-average winter could become the wettest in 12 years if 22mm of rain manages to fall during the next two days. If not, it will be the wettest in only three. Either way, this winter will go down as the first time in 20 years Adelaide saw above average rain during all three months of the season.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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