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Vast South Australian dust storm as wild winds strip parched landscape

Source Weatherzone Mon 26 May 2025

A large area of raised dust is roaring through eastern South Australia and western Victoria, reducing visibility in some areas to as little as 300 metres, while Adelaide and nearby localities enjoyed a brief but very welcome burst of heavy rain on Monday morning. Gusty northwesterly winds ahead of a vigorous cold front crossing southern Australia are responsible for whipping up the dust. But this Monday’s wild weather conditions tell only part of the story.  Image: Powerful and gusty northwesterly winds ahead of a vigorous cold front created areas of raised dust over eastern South Australia and western Victoria, as seen on the radar in the Weatherzone app.  The reason so much loose earth is available to become airborne just a week out from winter is due to a prolonged spell of relentlessly dry weather which has seen record-breaking low rainfall at many spots in southern SA and western Victoria. For example: Prior to today's 6mm of rain, Adelaide had received a paltry 30.8mm in the whole of 2025 to date. That tally is now 36.8mm, which is still only 21% of the yearly running average to the end of May. READ MORE: South Australia’s desperately dry peninsulas You can see the broad area of dust preceding the main cloudband associated with the cold front in South Australia’s Riverland, Murraylands and Mid North forecast districts on the satellite image below taken at midday on Monday (ACST). Image: Satellite image within a 1000km radius of Adelaide at midday (ACST) on Monday, May 26, 2025. The extent of the airborne soil is well illustrated by the enhanced colours in the image below, where pink represents dust. Image: Rain radar (the green and yellow blobs) and enhanced satellite (pink colours) showing the South Australian dust storm at 12:30pm (ACST) on May 26, 2025. How unusual are dust storms at this time of year? Large areas of raised dust can occur in any season in southern Australia depending on the dryness of the landscape and the strength of winds. That said, certain parts of the country tend to see this sort of event at certain times. For example, the famous Sydney dust storm of 2009 occurred in September, which happens to be that city’s driest time of year. In South Australia, the summer months are the driest time of year, so early autumn would usually be prime time for this sort of event as the band of westerlies circulating the globe in southern waters starts to push northwards. But the regular rains of autumn have not occurred this year, hence plenty of loose soil available on the surface of the landscape for an event of this magnitude on the cusp of winter. A massive dust storm has hit near Manoora in the Mid North as wild winds and storms begin to lash the state. Damaging winds, heavy rain and “abnormally” high tides are rolling in as the SES responds to flooding events across the south coast. ???? LATEST: https://t.co/wlQzA3AD0n pic.twitter.com/6oWJOuBzV5 — The Advertiser (@theTiser) May 26, 2025 Meanwhile the cold front has ushered in a polar airmass, with the mercury sitting on just 12.2°C at midday in Adelaide. Twelve hours earlier at midnight, it was a relatively balmy 17°C. As the cold front surges eastwards through Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW, winds will pick up with temperatures plummeting behind the front. Snow will fall in alpine areas, heaviest overnight tonight, with snow showers persisting into Tuesday. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2025