South Australia Storm: 50,000 Lightning Strikes, Heavy Rain, and Wind Warnings Issued

South Australia is grappling with intense weather as a storm brought around 50,000 lightning strikes, with thousands hitting the ground, particularly in the North East Pastoral and Adelaide areas. The Bureau of Meteorology reported significant rainfall in some regions, with Gammon Ranges in the northern Flinders Ranges receiving over 52mm in just two hours.

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We had those storms come through the city about 2 or 3am this morning, plus we got some storms going off just either side of the Spencer Gulf and further north in the North East Pastoral.

While thunderstorms have eased in some areas, the risk of damaging winds remains, with warnings issued for several coastal districts and Kangaroo Island for Thursday and early Friday. Transport Minister Joe Szakacs noted that the severe weather caused delays to the Torrens to Darlington project's tunnelling.

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We're expecting pretty broad brush 5 to 10mm for much of the agricultural areas of the state, maybe missing out a little bit in the Far West.

Looking ahead, a shift to a westerly wind flow from Thursday will bring colder mornings, with temperatures expected to drop to the low teens in the South East and coastal areas. Additionally, abnormally high tides are anticipated on Friday and Saturday, prompting Marine Safety SA to advise caution for people near jetties and the coastline.

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We're expecting these storms to be more of a wind risk than a heavy rainfall risk because there may only be seeing up to 20mm today, not just pouring cats and dogs all day but they are probably going to get more rainfall than we have.