South Australia set for a wet seven days as rain and thunderstorms predicted to hit

Autumn is about to turn wet, with a cold and rainy forecast for the next seven days.

South Australia is set to get its first proper taste of sustained winter weather with the rain setting in and it’s not going away.

The rain hit Adelaide just before 9am on Thursday and the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting up to 15mm to fall across the day.

There is a chance of a thunderstorm about the Hills and southern suburbs.

And the outlook for the next seven days looks bleak with rain forecast over the weekend, through to next Wednesday.

Temperatures won’t drop below 15C over that period, however up to 4mm of rain is expected on Saturday and 15mm on Sunday.

A Code Blue has been extended through to May 29 for people sleeping rough in the Riverland and Clare.

Overnight lows of 3C are forecast for those areas over the coming days.

“The biggest risk in extremely cold conditions such as those predicted in coming days, is that people can quickly become unwell or even hypothermia,” Human Services Minister Nat Cook said.

The dire weather may not last for long with the latest climate outlook suggesting South Australia can expect to see less wintry weather this season.

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its long-range forecasts for June to August and it may spell less gloomy weather this winter in the state.

Adelaide set to get a taste of winter weather when the rain hits this morning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Adelaide has a less than a 20 per cent chance of rainfall exceeding the median for winter and for majority of the rest of the state this will not exceed 40 per cent.

The Bureau has reported the southern parts of Australia are at least twice as likely to receive unusually low rainfall, among the driest 20 per cent of records at this time of year. And while in Adelaide the mercury will not top 20C throughout the week, the chance of seeing in excess of median winter temperatures in SA is higher than 80 per cent.

The state is at least twice as likely to experience unusually high maximum temperatures in winter, among the warmest 20 per cent of records at this time of year.

Some areas of SA are more than four times as likely to see the mercury hit unusually high maximum temperatures.

Long-range forecasts currently suggest El Nino development during winter.

“The prospect of an El Nino event has been on the cards for a while,” independent climatologist Darren Ray said. “We’ve lost the last of the La Nina influence.”

Mr Ray said SA can expect a winter with “more sunshine and clearer skies”, but that results in frosty conditions.

But clear days will lead to “more pleasant” weather.

Low rainfall, about “two-thirds of the average”, may become a problem and result in “reduced crop yields”.