A tornado warning was issued in northern Adelaide on Friday morning as violent thunderstorms passed over the city and nearby Mount Lofty Ranges.

Severe thunderstorm warnings in Australia rarely include a mention of tornadoes and it’s even more unusual for a tornado warning to be issued in one of Australia's state capital cities.

But that’s exactly what happened on Friday morning as a line of intense thunderstorms passed over the Adelaide region.

Image: Composite satellite and radar images showing thunderstorms over the Adelaide region on Friday morning.

Radar data captured on Friday morning showed signs of rotation within some of the storm cells that passed near Adelaide. This rotation can be a sign that a tornado has formed at the base of a thunderstorm. A wind gust of 96 km/h was also reported at Adelaide Airport shortly after 6am local time.

As real-time observations from the intense thunderstorms came in, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for destructive winds and possible tornadoes.

⚠️⛈️ 6:45am: Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for parts of the #Adelaide Metro area.

Very dangerous thunderstorms likely to produce destructive #winds and possible #tornadoes may affect northern suburbs, Mount Lofty Ranges in the next 30min.

Details: https://t.co/GWsDMdhjBD pic.twitter.com/H5IO9Mtmc1

— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) August 28, 2025

Footage reportedly captured in the northern Adelaide suburb of Craigmore on Friday morning shows a rapid burst of powerful winds, which caused damage to a fence and garden shed. It’s not yet clear whether this was associated with a tornado.

While it’s not unusual to see thunderstorms over SA at this time of year, Friday morning’s storms were particularly intense thanks to a strong cold front and low pressure system moving up from the Great Australia Bight.

A weather balloon launched from Adelaide Airport on Friday morning revealed that wind speeds less than 1 km above the surface were blowing at around 50 knots (93 km/h). The storms that passed over the Adelaide region on Friday morning helped drag these powerful winds towards the surface.

While the immediate threat of tornadoes has now passed for Adelaide, a severe weather warning was still in place at 10am ACST for damaging winds over much of the state.

Damaging winds will also affect other areas of southeastern Australia on Friday and Saturday as the cold front and low pressure system move further east.

Check the latest warnings in your area for the most up to date information on this severe weather event.