Adelaide gets 70 per cent of July rain in one day, farmer has 228.5 reasons to smile

Adelaide gets 70 per cent of July rain in one day, farmer has 228.5 reasons to smile Thu 2 Jul 2026 at 1:49pm In short: Metropolitan Adelaide has been hit with more wild weather, recording 70 per cent of its median rainfall in a single day. One South Australian farmer has welcomed the falls, and says he is 'smiling' a lot more following years of drought. What next? The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts more rain today around the Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide and the Lower South East coast. More wild weather has hit metropolitan Adelaide, with those in regional parts of the state welcoming heavy rainfalls. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Tom Anderson said 42 millimetres had fallen in the past 24 hours in the metropolitan area, while Longwood and Scott Creek in the Adelaide Hills had each received more than 60mm. "We've also already had 70 per cent of the median rainfall for July [in Adelaide] in one day," he said. Mr Anderson said most of the rain activity would concentre around the Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide and Lower South East coast but "the worst is likely behind us". One lane on James Congdon Drive at Mile End was closed on Thursday morning after water overflowed in an area near the SA Athletics Stadium. State Emergency Services SA state duty officer Craig Brassington said it had responded to more than 180 calls for help in the past day. "Especially with the quantity of rain we received, the gutters on houses just could not cope, so we had a lot of jobs where we had some water coming back inside the houses," he said. "We had cracked tiles, we had cracked skylights, drains which were blocked." Rain welcomed by farmers Fourth-generation farmer Tom Fielke has 228.5 reasons to smile as rain continues to pour across parts of South Australia this week. Full rain gauges and tall feeds are hopeful signs for some farmers after several dry years. At this time last year, Mr Fielke's farm near Loxton in the Riverland had received 22mm of rain and 78mm the year before that. So far this year, the record is tipping over 200mm. "Everyone certainly has much more of a spring in their step and even a lot of people have been saying to me, 'oh, you're smiling a lot more these days'," Mr Fielke told 891 ABC Adelaide. "I didn't realise that but maybe I am, but look, 228.5 reasons to smile at the moment." The wheat and barley farmer said he hoped the rest of the year would result in a good harvest, which would help farmers catch up on land payments and machinery costs. "We are north-east of Loxton and most people out on this side of town haven't broken even over the last two years. So, there're just the cold, hard facts," Mr Fielke said. "It's just going to be a few years to play catch up and obviously cost of machinery these days and repairs. It's going to be a while before we sort of get back to where we were prior to this dry run." SA Dairyfarmers' Association president Rob Brokenshire told 891 ABC Adelaide the past few months have been good for the industry compared to the last three years. "At the moment we've got feed out the back there where that paddock is and the feed's over, well nearly 10 inches high," he said. "I've friends who have got stations in the pastoral country, they were in the driest time they had seen in over 40 years. "They had the big floods up there earlier this year and they've got feed up to your knees and fat cattle everywhere." Mr Brokenshire said having opening rains around early April would help livestock farmers get through winter better. "Our concern is what we call the wet drought, so it's so cold, so wet and so muddy that the plants can't grow, so you've got to bring a lot of fodder in for your cows," he said. Yorke Peninsula farmer Dean Price has had a great start to the year but remains cautiously optimistic. "Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of problems from the past few years. There's still a lot of debt hanging around and that sort of thing so that's got to be taken into consideration," he told 891 ABC Adelaide. "But certainly the vibe around the area is a hell of a lot better than it was 12 months ago for sure." Mr Price said he looked forward to more rain and moderate temperatures in spring. "If we could get an inch of rain for the next three months, then yeah, things would be looking really, really good,"he said.