1996

30th September

Flooding occurred along the
Onkaparinga River causing damage to some properties at Old Noarlunga.

18th September 1996
Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening of the 18th. These storms produced hail to 2.5cm in diameter in northern suburbs of Adelaide and in Naracoorte in the Southeast. No major damage was reported.

18th August 1996

I have only ever seen snow once in my life and it was by chance. I happened to be staying overnight at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills for a 21st. It was a very cold night for the party but there were no suggestions of any light snow for the hills, but we were woken up at 6am to a cry of 'snow'! The scene was absolutely amazing to my eyes. It wasn't just lightly falling - this was coming down nicely and settling to a depth of 2cm where we were. I spent the next 2 hours walking the streets of Lobethal with my camera, taking it all in. The snow eventually stopped falling at about 8am when the sun started shining between falls and warmed the atmosphere.
Apparently the snow was caused by an exceptionally cold air mass bringing extensive snowfalls to the Adelaide Hills, parts of the Barossa Valley and the Mid North. According to the BOM and locals, it was one of the heaviest snowfalls experienced in the Adelaide Hills for many years. It remains probably one of my most amazing memories of my life.

26th June 1996
A line of thunderstorms moved across southern Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges in the early hours of the 26th, causing minor wind damage and local flooding. A 90 km/h gust was recorded at Strathalbyn. Another thunderstorm on the 26th also brought down trees and caused local flooding around Yorke Valley and Ardrossan on Yorke Peninsula.

22nd June 1996
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain and hail to many parts of Adelaide and the Mt Lofty Ranges on the 22nd. One thunderstorm produced 13mm of rain in 6 minutes at Forreston and a tornado near Mt Torrens. The tornado damaged trees over a track 2km long and 60-80 metres wide.