Press Release

Adelaide drying out after wettest summer in 37 years

28/02/2011: Despite no rain during the last week Adelaide's summer was its wettest in 37 years and the fifth wettest on record, according to weatherzone.com.au.

The city amassed 153mm, the most since the summer of 1973/1974 when 162mm fell.

This summer's rain was also more than twice the average and only 20mm short of the record.

The long-term average is 67mm and the record in 173mm, set in 1924/1925.

As expected with near-record rain, there were more rain days than normal, 22 compared to the long-term average of 15 days.

The wettest day was on Tuesday the 7th of December when persistent rain and storms brought 66mm during the day and overnight. This was the highest 24-hour total since February 1969 and highest December 24-hour total on record.

Also on this day, parts of the Murray Mallee and Riverland were awash with a near-record 100mm.

"The near-record wet summer was largely due to moisture streaming from the tropics on a frequent basis, which gave us higher than normal humidity," Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said.

"A lot of rain and many rainy days meant that it was not a particularly hot summer. Extra cloud cover was a big factor. Adelaide had half an hour less sunshine per day than normal, " Dutschke said.

Adelaide averaged a maximum of 28.8 degrees, only about half a degree above the long-term norm. It's been six years since a summer has been cooler.

"Nights were noticeably warmer than normal, mainly due to the extra cloud cover."

Overnight minimums averaged 17.6 degrees, more than one degree higher than the long-term norm, but about the same as last summer.

A wetter than normal summer was experienced over most of South Australia, with the east being the wettest.

Parts of the Riverland and Murray Mallee had their wettest summer on record, including Renmark and Karoonda. Much of the region had three to six times the average rainfall.

Renmark was one the wettest areas with 286mm for the season, 126mm more than the previous record in 1999/2000. Waikerie was not far behind with 268mm. Other notable totals were Sandalwood with 237mm and Karoonda and Mannum with 230mm each.

The West Coast was one of the drier parts of the state, but it was still significantly wetter than normal.

Kyancutta picked up 100mm, double the average and its seventh wettest summer in about 80 years of records. Its wettest summer was only eight years ago, when 247mm fell.

"Looking ahead to autumn, we are likely to trend back to near average rainfall as La Nina weakens and tropical moisture generally lessens. Autumn will begin the same way summer ended - dry. For Adelaide and much of SA, significant rain should stay away until about mid-March," Dutschke said.

Media Inquiries:

Brett Dutschke
media@weatherzone.com.au
02 9965 9269

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