Adelaide drenched by heaviest daily rainfall since 2016
Adelaide needed that. Overnight, 46 mm of rain fell in the South Australian capital, by far the heaviest single day of rainfall of the year to date, and the heaviest in five years.
Indeed, the 46 mm in the gauge at the city's official West terrace/Ngayirdapira weather station was more rain than has has been recorded in any complete month so far in 2021.
Below are Adelaide's monthly rain totals for 2021 to date, with the average monthly figures in brackets (and for those interested, Adelaide's complete weather averages are here):
January 2021 30.6 mm (19.7 mm average)
February 2021 25.8 mm (20.7 mm average)
March 2021 13.2 mm (23.6 mm average)
April 2021 16.8 mm (43.9 mm average)
May 2021 38.0 mm (68.0 mm average)
Good falls - also in several cases the heaviest of the year to date - were also recorded across parts of the Lower and Upper South East of SA.
Image: As you can see from the above radar image captured early on Friday morning, the rain was not widespread, but was fairly intense where it fell. Source: Weatherzone.
So what caused the downpour?
"The combination of an upper-level trough and a passing surface trough produced the heavy and steady rain in the Adelaide region overnight," Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explains.
Meanwhile, the rain in Adelaide was well-timed for another reason. It was the Vinnies CEO sleepout last night, and if a freezing wet night doesn't give society's most fortunate citizens an idea of what it's like to sleep rough, nothing will.
Sleeping in driving rain & chilly temps is a reality most don't ever face.
— SA Metro Fire CEO (@Mike_Morgan_1) June 17, 2021
An estimated 116,000 Australians have no permanent home on any given night.
At @CEOSleepout #Adelaide @SA_MFS is raising $ to help @VinniesSA tackle #homelessness.
Donate: https://t.co/Jzoo0TqcHu pic.twitter.com/dfBy96DF3Q
Adelaide should reach 16ºC today with brisk southerly winds and a few showers sticking around, though they won't be anywhere near as persistent as the overnight rain.
Moving into the weekend and into the early part of the new week, things look to clear up with top temps around 16ºC or 17ºC most days.