Weather News

Wind, rain and hail lashes South Australia

Winds in excess of 100km/h have been battering parts of South Australia since Thursday afternoon, while heavy showers caused localised flooding.

A strong cold front surged across the state on Thursday afternoon bringing a burst of cold and showery southwesterly winds. An associated low pressure system then deepened to the south of the state overnight, which has maintained the vigorous southwesterly flow.

As the cold front moved through on Thursday, Mount Crawford received a wind gust of 102km/h. The strong winds persisted into this morning, with Oodnadatta recording its strongest wind gust in nearly three years, which reached 109km/h.

A severe weather warning for potentially damaging wind gusts has been issued for the Murraylands, Upper South East, Lower South East and parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island. There is still the risk of damaging winds averaging 55 to 65km/h with peak gusts to 90km/h in the districts through the afternoon.

In addition to the strong winds, heavy bursts of rain have also led to localised flooding. Around Adelaide, widespread falls of 10 to 20mm were recorded, where hail also blanketed the ground. For the city, which gained 18mm of in the 24 hours to 9am, this was the heaviest rainfall in three weeks.

The Mount Lofty Ranges gained the highest rainfall totals, with widespread falls of 20 to 40mm in 24 hours. Bridgewater received 53mm in the 24 hours to 9am while Lobethal recorded 50mm, its heaviest in six months.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2012

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