Adelaide gets much-needed soaking with 7.2mm of rain after dry spell

At long last, Adelaide has had the deluge it’s been waiting for all year. And it didn’t take long to hit a 2025 milestone.

• ‘Pump the Murray to the bush’

Adelaide recorded more rain in one day on Thursday than it has all year and while much-needed rainfall was recorded in some regions, it did little to curtail the drought.

In what has been the driest start to the year since 1989, the rainfall was welcomed as it made its way across the state with the highest fall of 20mm recorded in Hermitage.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Adelaide’s West Tce weather station had received 7.2mm as of 3pm yesterday, compared to the 6.6mm it had received all year.

The slippery conditions caused multiple crashes and traffic incidents across Adelaide.

Traffic was backed up for kilometres on the M2 heading toward Adelaide from the northern suburbs, with multiple rear-end crashes causing delays. Emergency services were called to the North-South Motorway just before 7am to reports of the multi-car crash.

Parts of the Eyre Peninsula received more than 10mm, including 17.6mm at Minnipa, near Ceduna, and 14.8mm at Streaky Bay.

The Mount Lofty Ranges recorded some of the next highest rainfalls, including Inglewood (13.4mm) and Ashton (11.4mm) and Belair (10.2).

A video, published on social media yesterday, also showed a steady stream of water flowing throught a drought-stricken property at Booleroo Centre.

However, the Bureau said data from storms to the east of the Flinders Ranges, moving towards the NSW and Victorian borders would not be known until Friday.

But despite the wet weather, the Bureau has forecast there would be no rainfall for the agricultural areas over the next seven days.

Primary Producers chair Simon Maddocks said while “we’re a long way from a break in the season, farmers will take everything we can get”.

“Looking at the rain gauge on my farm it’s telling me we’ve received 2mm in the lower Mid North, so I think Adelaide got more than most,” Prof Maddocks said.

“Unfortunately, it’s not enough, the soil is so dry we really need good rain to penetrate deep into the surface to make a difference.

A Rainbow appears over Adelaide this morning . Picture: Sam Shute

The city has already received more than 5mm on Thursday. Picture: Sam Shute

“We’re a long way from that. It does make people feel like there is a tomorrow, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Large parts of the agricultural areas have had their lowest 12 months of rainfall on record as of January, with the data going back to 1900.

Farmers this week descended on the state parliament calling for immediate support, on top of an $18m package the government announced in November.

Traffic was backed up for several kilometres on the M2, heading to the city. Picture: Leah Smith

There have been multiple rear-end crashes. Picture: Leah Smith

The Bureau has forecast a “mostly neutral” chance of above or below median rainfall across SA in April and May.

“However, there are slightly increased chances of above median rainfall for parts of the southern agricultural areas and the far north during April, and for the lower south-east coast and southern parts of Yorke Peninsula during May,” the spokesman said.

Rain finally arrived in South Australia on Thursday morning. Picture: BOM

People on the streets of Adelaide shelter from the rain. Picture: File

It comes as The Adveriser launches For Pete’s Sake, a campaign aimed at raising awareness of one of the harshest droughts in SA history, and urging Premier Peter Malinauskas to take action. Over the next nine days, we’ll tell the stories of nine Peters from across the state who have devoted their lives to working the land and have been hit hard by the drought.

A delegation of farmers desperate for drought relief came to town on Wednesday to plead for faster assistance from the state government.

They say they’re facing a minimum 10-week waiting for $5000 “drought resilience” rebates, but many are in financial crisis and simply can’t wait that long.

Originally published as Adelaide gets much-needed soaking with 7.2mm of rain after dry spell