The weather forecast for the second Ashes Test in Adelaide this week is a cracker, with a low probability of rain on all five days from Thursday through to Monday, and uncomfortable heat likely to occur on only one day, as temps push into the high thirties on Friday.

It's a nice change from the way things looked before the Brisbane Test, when the official forecast looked pretty soggy (though as we pointed out three days ahead of play, despite afternoon storms on the first few days it was unlikely too many hours of play would be lost bad, and so it proved).

• It's worth mentioning that the Adelaide Test will be a day/night event with play starting at 3 pm local time (2:30 pm AEDT).
• For the cricket buffs out there who play close attention to things like humidity and the dewiness of the grass, humidity should remain low during the first two days and nights of the Test. So in other words, fast bowlers may not be advantaged by the early night sessions, as they have been in some day/night Tests.
• It's also worth noting that Adelaide is the driest of the eight Australian capital cities (in terms of average annual rainfall), and summer is its driest season. So it's nice to see it living up to its reputation.

Image: Bring on this sort of cricket weather. Source: @Michael18 via Pixabay.

The general weather situation in South Australia

A high pressure ridge will be centred just south, and then east, of Adelaide for the first couple of days of the Test, directing warm to hot northerlies over the city.

On Saturday, a low pressure system moving through the Bight will push cooler southerly winds into southern parts of South Australia, however there is likely to be little if any rain associated with the cool change.

Day-by-day Adelaide weather for the second Test

Thursday: Dry and warm, with temps in the high twenties.

Chance of any rain: 5%

Friday: A hot one. Northerlies increasing and an official max tipped to reach 35°C at this stage, although early indications are that the mercury could push a few degrees higher.

Chance of any rain: 20% (but that's the chance of an amount less than 1 mm, so realistically, rain that interrupts play is quite unlikely)

Saturday: Cooler with tops around 27°C.

Chance of any rain: 20% (but that's the chance of an amount less than 1 mm, so realistically, rain that interrupts play is quite unlikely)

Sunday: Another perfect day for cricket with tops again around 27°C.

Chance of any rain: 5%

Monday: Conditions again look to be fine with the maximum likely to be a degree or two warmer than Sunday.

Chance of any rain: Low, but rising ever so slightly to around 10%.

Overall summary

As mentioned, the weather week ahead for Adelaide is a very different situation to Brisbane, where moisture from the Coral Sea was interacting with a trough in Queensland, giving enormous potential for frequent (but not constant) showers and/or storms.

Realistically at this stage, there is only a slight chance of some very light showers drifting in over the Adelaide Oval around Friday night into Saturday. But every indication is that the entire five days of Test match cricket will be unaffected by rain.

Whether England is unaffected by its heavy first Test loss is another story.