Hundreds woke to no power in the Adelaide Hills as rain swept across SA

Power has now been restored to most areas after wild weather caused problems overnight.

Power has been restored to hundreds of property owners in the Adelaide Hills as wild weather continues to batter the state.

More than 700 homes in Chapel Hill, Mylor, Aldgate, Bridgewater, Hahndorf, Jupiter Creek were still without power around 3pm on Saturday, according to the SA Power Networks website. The power was restored by 5pm, but 500 people at Murray Bridge, Tailem Bend and Brinkley were without power, with restoration expected by 10.30pm Saturday.

The outages follow heavy rain and wind across the state which began on Thursday.

Four cars crashed during a dust storm north of Port Wakefield on Friday night.

One person broke their arm, while others are being treated for minor injuries.

Police have urged motorists to take care on the roads, as squally conditions have prompted a warning to motorists for dangerous driving conditions.

The road weather alert was issued for the Adelaide area for Saturday morning, as fog reduced visibility and made road conditions dangerous.

The Severe Weather Warning for potentially damaging winds across southern parts of #SouthAustralia has been updated. It now includes the south of the Mid North district and most of the Murraylands and South East districts. See warning at: https://t.co/vkCqypDrvF pic.twitter.com/6NqJIzKX5Y

— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) February 5, 2021

Earlier on Friday, a severe weather warning was issued for most of SA but has since been cancelled.

A marine wind warning is still current across SA.

Places to see the highest rainfall in the past 24 hours include Cherryville (26mm), Happy Valley (25mm), and Morphett Vale (28mm).

The highest wind gust for Adelaide was clocked at 61km/h, while Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island broke the 100km/h barrier on Friday.

Kingscote and Parndana on Kangaroo Island, which also had fires near Western River this week, recorded 32mm and 36mm respectively, in the past 24 hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology says Adelaide could be hit with up to 25mm of rain between the start of the wet weather on Thursday until Sunday, while the Mount Lofty Ranges and parts of the south east can expect up to 60mm to fall on their Hills, continuing the trend of a wet summer.

Showers extending across #SouthAustralia on Thursday and persisting across the south on Friday. Local heavy falls possible about Mt Lofty Ranges and the southeast. Strengthening winds on Friday, possibly damaging in the south. Stay up to date: https://t.co/NZWuEwvO1h pic.twitter.com/RtOen7QWR0

— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) February 3, 2021

Elsewhere across the state, up to 20mm is expected in the northern agricultural area, 40mm in the southern agricultural area and 20mm, with thunderstorms, in the far northeast.

If the expected Adelaide rainfall hits its maximum prediction, the February average could be smashed within a matter of days.

Adelaide will reach a top of 23C today, remaining at that temperature on Sunday.

BOM meteorologist Jenny Horvat said the rainfall was “a little unusual” for this time of year.

“Generally for Adelaide, our average rainfall for February is 20mm but, having said that, last year we recorded 28mm at West Terrace in early February,” Ms Horvat said.

Ms Horvat said rainfall was average across most of the state last month, buoyed by the downpour late in the month.

She also said temperatures were cooler than average for Adelaide in January.

Adelaide experienced its wettest day since June 2019 last month, with nearly 30mm being recorded in the city on January 25.

The heavy rain caused flash flooding across Adelaide but brought welcome relief to the Adelaide Hills, where the Cherry Gardens bushfire was quelled.