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Heaviest Adelaide rain in nine months

Source Weatherzone Tue 27 May 2025

Residents of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, and many nearby areas can rejoice in their heaviest day of rainfall in nine months, while some South Australian agricultural districts unfortunately missed the rain altogether. Adelaide itself received 15mm of liquid gold in the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday, which was the heaviest daily total since August 16, 2024, when 19.4mm fell. Weather stations in the Adelaide Hills recorded the heaviest totals from this event, with a highest reading of 55mm at Maidment Road, a weather station near the small town of Mount Torrens, around 45km E/NE of the Adelaide CBD. Image: 12-hour radar loop for the Adelaide region from 11am to 11pm on Monday, May 26, 2025, showing a pronounced rainband in the morning, followed by regular top-ups which became heavier late in the evening. Other stations to record noteworthy totals included: Mount Lofty, the highest point in the Adelaide Hills at an elevation of 710m received 33.2mm, its highest daily total since June last year. Stenhouse Bay on the SW tip of the parched Yorke Peninsula picked up 26.2mm after a welcome 8.2mm the day before. In the first four months of 2025, it saw just 12.6mm in total. Mount Gambier picked up 15mm, one of several locations in the state’s far southeast to see falls in the 10-20mm range. Storms and lightning were also features of the wild SA weather, with just over 40,000 lightning strikes within a 600km radius of Adelaide, while 385 ground strikes were recorded over Adelaide and the Mount Lofty Ranges. Unfortunately, the news was not so good elsewhere. The Riverland town of Renmark is only a three-hour drive northeast of Adelaide but didn’t record a drop of rain, after a year in which it has received a paltry 17mm to date.  Even some farmers whose properties saw light rain endured further frustration on Monday, with topsoil from recently sown paddocks being scoured by fierce gusty winds that accompanied the cold front crossing SA. The airborne dust travelled as far afield as the east coast of NSW. Unfortunately for SA farmers, a drying trend will set in over the state from this Tuesday, with the next significant frontal system appearing to be at least a week away. READ MORE: Vast South Australian dust storm as wild winds strip parched landscape - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2025