South Australia has certainly maintained its presence in Australian weather discussions these last few days, and for very good reason. A deep low moving through the Bight will continue to bring a steady stream of wintry weather to the state this weekend.
Image: Satellite image over the Bight at 12:00pm ACST Sat 24th, with a cold front beginning to cross the SA coast.
Next in line for SA is a cold front, pushing across the coast this afternoon and into the evening. This front will keep showers persisting into the afternoon and evening and will also bring an increase in winds across most of the state.
There is currently a severe weather warning in place for damaging wind gusts across the Mt Lofty Ranges and parts of the Murraylands region as winds are expected to strengthen significantly through the afternoon as the front crosses.
There are already multiple locations that have seen wind gusts exceeding 70km/h today, with Neptune Island recording the strongest gust in the state so far at 94.5km/h. Other strong wind gusts recorded so far include Mt Crawford (74.1km/h), and Minlaton (72.2km/h).
As the afternoon turns into evening, we could potentially see wind gusts exceeding 100km/h for exposed coastal and elevated areas, and exceeding 80km/h for other areas of the state, including Adelaide. These winds are likely to continue overnight and into Sunday morning.
Image: Forecast wind gusts at 9:30pm Sat 24th ACST using ECMWF
As the front slides east into VIC tomorrow, the strongest winds will contract to the south and southeast of Adelaide. Blustery winds are still a chance for these areas well into Sunday afternoon in the wake of the front before conditions begin to ease into the new week.
As winds increase through the afternoon and into tonight, make sure to keep an eye on the latest forecasts and warnings here.