IT WAS a wet and wild start to winter across the Limestone Coast yesterday with the region experiencing gusty winds and rainfall throughout the early hours of Monday.
Winter signalled its early arrival late Sunday as rain and hail storms battered the region, with the season’s wild start continuing on Monday as more than 23mm of rain fell over the 12-hour period from 9pm Sunday.
Gusts of up to 65kph were recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) which earlier issued a severe weather warning for the region.
The wintry start to the week could be a sign of things to come with BOM predicting a wetter than average three months across the state this year.
The adverse conditions led to a busy night for State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers – including the Mount Gambier branch which was called out to clear several fallen trees and also responded to a flooding incident on the city’s outskirts.
Operations response manager Mathew Tye said six call-outs had volunteers on the job for most of the evening.
“We probably started around midnight and our last job finished up at around 8.30am so it was a reasonably busy night,” he said.
“Five of the jobs were trees down at various locations across the city and a flooding incident on Cafpirco Road.”
While some of the jobs presented challenges, Mr Tye said dealing with each incident was made easier thanks to the resources at their disposal.
“We had a tree down into powerlines, which was a bit of a challenge, but everything was made easier with the resources of the Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS), Country Fire Service (CFS) and our group all working together,” he said.
BOM long-range forecasting manager Dr Andrew Watkins believed Monday night’s weather definitely would not be the last time high rainfall is recorded this winter.
“Ocean temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean are currently warmer than normal and our models are predicting they will warm further throughout the winter months,” Dr Watkins said.
“When warm sea surface temperatures occur closer to Australia, weather patterns shift towards us too, favouring more cloud and rainfall across the country.”
Mr Watkins said the wetter than average outlook followed a cooler than average autumn period for the Limestone Coast.
Autumn rainfall is also likely to have been above average through most of the region.
While more wild weather could be on its way very soon, Mr Tye said it was not too late for the region’s residents to prepare their property for the winter months.
“It’s good to see that people have already prepared shown by the lack of call-outs to flooding incidents yesterday,” he said.
“For those who have not it is definitely time start preparing your home by cleaning your gutters up and make sure drains are unblocked.”
The start of winter also aligns with fire safety week, triggering a fresh warning from the MFS, CFS and Environmental Protection Authority.
Launching the week yesterday, South Australian Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said the fire services encouraged safe behaviours around fire.
“In winter, many South Australians enjoy warming up outdoor areas with fire pits, braziers, chimneys or outdoor combustion heaters.
“At night it can be a wonderful family experience to rug up, talk around the fire and look up at the stars, but I’d like to urge everyone to follow the safety advice of the MFS and CFS when lighting up their outdoor fires.
“A few simple steps can prevent injuries or property damage.”
