1999

25th December 1999

Slow moving thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of Christmas Day on and east of the Mount Lofty Ranges. I was at my grandparents house at Kapunda in the state's Mid north - luckily one of the best places for the storms on this day! Probably the closest I've come to being hit by lightning as well, for I was thinking the storm at the time was not as close as it was when a strike hit a pole only 100 metres away. Being out in the open and in an exposed location, lets just say I didn't hang around to see if there was going to be another one!  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with at the time!

Flash flooding and strong winds from these storms resulted in property damage 20kms away, at Eudunda (Lower Murray Valley), where flash flooding washed away a road bridge, washed cars away and flooded homes . At Millicent (Lower Southeast) flash flooding damaged 3 homes. In the northern suburbs of Adelaide, flash flooding closed roads and caused minor flooding to homes. Paringa, near Renmark, suffered flooding to properties, and in the Mount Lofty Ranges strong winds brought down trees.

8th December 1999 - SNOWTOWN TORNADO

On the 8th extensive thunderstorms were reported across the state. A severe thunderstorm developed between Arno Bay and Cowell, on Eyre Peninsula, late in the morning and moved slowly eastwards during the afternoon. Significant damage to property and crops were reported from towns along the path of the storm. The severest damage was reported from in and around Snowtown, in the Lower North district, with hailstones up to 4.5cm, heavy rain, 40 mm of rain in 1 hour and strong winds (122 km/h recorded at Snowtown AWS) causing considerable damage to crops, trees, powerlines and buildings along a corridor 8 to 10 km wide. Notable damage consisted of: Power poles twisted and bent to the ground; heavy farm machinery and grain bins being thrown several hundred metres through the air. A thoroughbred racing stud, near Port Broughton west of Snowtown lost 9 horses in the violent hail storm. The storm travelled over 400 kilometres in 5 hours, finally dissipating on the South Australian/New South Wales border, northeast of Paringa.

Damage caused by the tornado near Snowtown.
Photo from 'The Advertiser'

9th October 1999
A cold front weakened over South Australia on this day, but a succession of weak troughs brought widespread thunderstorms to the state and into western Victoria. Strong winds with the storms raised dust and gave Broken Hill a gust of 93km/h at 8.27pm, but no damage was reported.
A second complex low pressure system was positioned southwest of Kangaroo Island. A moist trough was associated with this system. Thunderstorms developed in the warm humid air along the moist front, during the early afternoon, in the Upper Southeast district. A thunderstorm caused significant damage to cereal crops, fruit trees and property west of Bordertown and 40.6mm of rain was recorded at Bordertown for the weekend.

2nd October 1999
A small upper area of cold air moved ENE across the Eyre Peninsula and into central northern parts of SA during the afternoon and evening, spawning spectacular thunderstorms. Yunta recorded 26.6mm between 5 and 9pm while in suburban Adelaide, Parafield AP recorded 36.4mm between 2.10 and 6pm in a succession of heavy storms and showers. Golfball-sized hail caused extensive damage to about 25 vineyards in the Clare Valley, north of Adelaide. The Lower North district with an area 10 km long and 2 km wide between Auburn and Leasingham being the hardest hit. Hail stones the size of golf balls stripped grape vines and damaged property within this area. On one property in the Auburn area, 42 acres of grape vines were shredded by the hail causing at least $150,000 damage. Further north, between Robertstown and Jamestown, heavy rain caused flash flooding. A similar event with no official gauging was reported near Point Pass. Among the heaviest falls for the 24 hours to 9am Sunday were Hoyleton, 100km N of Adelaide, 50mm, Parafield Airport 48 and Nildottie, 100km ENE of Adelaide, 46mm.

Saturday 22nd May 1999

A cold front associated with a developing Low near Kangaroo Island brought thunderstorms with heavy downpours to Adelaide and nearby areas in the evening. The Bureau of Meteorology's Regional Forecasting Centre in Kent Town, Adelaide, recorded the top rainfall of 41mm in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday. This was the highest daily rainfall recorded in May since the Bureau relocated to the Kent Town site in 1977. 30.4mm fell between 8.30 and 10pm, when unfortunately I was out in the elements at Football Park! Parafield Airport recorded 30.0mm, its highest May daily total in 47 years. Other heavy 24 hour falls were 45.0mm at the Second Valley Forest AWS near Parawa in the Hills south of Adelaide, 42 at suburban Meadows and Torrens Island, and 41.6 at the Mt Lofty ABC transmitter.
Local flooding was reported throughout the metropolitan area, with police closing several roads in the city and power out in some areas. Sandbagging was required to protect a retirement village at Stirling from flooding, while a helicopter required to service an emergency was grounded at Victor Harbour because of the storm. The strongest wind gust at Adelaide Kent Town was 50km/h at 9.30pm, but earlier in the afternoon Port Lincoln registered a gust of 69km/h as the line of storms swept through.