Adelaide rain radar: old BOM-style loop
Follow recent rain around Adelaide with a classic radar loop centred on the city. Switch view widths to compare the Adelaide Plains and Hills with Gulf St Vincent and the Fleurieu Peninsula. Adelaide 7-day forecast.
Distance rings are measured from your selected location. Transparent areas may be dry or outside coverage. Colours are not a calibrated rainfall measurement.
Using the Adelaide radar view
Rain bands often reach Adelaide across Gulf St Vincent from the west and south-west. The Adelaide Hills can see different totals from the plains, so compare the close and wider views rather than reading one colour as a city-wide amount.
Times follow South Australian time, half an hour behind the eastern states. The Bureau’s Buckland Park and Sellicks Hill loops are linked below.
Compare successive frames to see how echoes have moved. Playback shows what has already happened. The Next 4 hours panel under the map carries that movement forward as an estimate, then hands over to the forecast model.
Radars covering Adelaide
Adelaide is covered by two Bureau radars. The closest is Adelaide (Buckland Park), 37 km away. The loops listed for each radar are the official ranges that include the city centre; a radar's 64 km loop only helps if you are within 64 km of the radar itself.
| Radar | Where it is | Official loops that include Adelaide | Site and what it sees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide (Buckland Park) (IDR64) | 37 km north of Adelaide | 64 km · 128 km · 256 km · 512 km | Buckland Park Meteor 1500SDP (S-Band, ~10 cm wavelength) Dual Polarisation Radar On the coastal plain about 35 km north-north-west of the city. Well placed for systems arriving from the west; shallow showers or drizzle east of the Mount Lofty Ranges can be hidden from it. |
| Adelaide (Sellicks Hill) (IDR46) | 46 km south of Adelaide | 128 km · 256 km · 512 km | Sellicks Hill, approximately 45 km south of Adelaide Airport WF 100 (C-Band, 5 centimetre wavelength) On an escarpment of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges at about 350 m. It sees shallow rain on the eastern side of the ranges, but as a C-band radar its view of rain behind large thunderstorms can be weakened. |
Sites, types and siting notes paraphrased from the Bureau of Meteorology's radar information page; distances are from the Adelaide city centre.
Official BOM radar loops for Adelaide
The Bureau of Meteorology still publishes its classic radar loops on reg.bom.gov.au. These are the official station loops covering Adelaide, at each range the Bureau offers:
- Adelaide (Buckland Park) (IDR64): 64 km · 128 km · 256 km · 512 km · Atmosphr page
- Adelaide (Sellicks Hill) (IDR46): 128 km · 256 km · 512 km · Atmosphr page
See every Bureau radar loop by state.
Looking for the old BOM radar?
Atmosphr offers a classic-style alternative with automatic playback and simple controls. It is independent of the Bureau of Meteorology. The image is a historical composite supplied through RainViewer, not a direct station-specific BOM product.
More near Adelaide
Read the radar guide for help with timestamps, coverage and playback.