South Australia is the driest of the Australian states. Only about one-fifth of the area receives annual precipitation of more than 10 inches (250 mm), and less than half of that has more than 16 inches (400 mm). The higher rainfall occurs along the southern coasts and the north-south-trending Mount Lofty and Flinders ranges. The highest falls occur near Mount Lofty (47 inches [1,200 mm]), and the lowest occur in the vicinity of Lake Eyre (6 inches [150 mm] or less).

With maritime climatic influences drawn inland by Spencer Gulf and Gulf St. Vincent, the southern coastal zone of the state has been characterized as having a “Mediterranean” climate, with mild to cool wet winters and hot dry summers. By contrast, rainfall in the arid interior is highly erratic. The two dominant weather influences derive from the Southern Ocean to the south and from the continental interior to the north. These can produce sharp temperature contrasts at any time of the year, most markedly in summer, when scorching northerly winds can give way within hours to cool southerlies off the ocean.

In Adelaide the average daily maximum temperatures range from a summer peak of 84 °F (29 °C) in January to a winter low of 59 °F (15 °C) in July; average daily minimum temperatures range from 63 °F (17 °C) in February to 45 °F (7 °C) in July. In the southern settled coastal zone the annual average number of “hot” days in excess of 86 °F is from 10 to 50, whereas in the northern two-thirds of the state it is more than 110 days per year.

South Australia is relatively free of damaging weather events, apart from droughts. Violent storms are rare and flood hazards minimal. Summer bushfires are the most serious weather-related hazards; notable widespread and destructive fires occurred in January 1939 and February 1983.

Soils

Sand and lime are the dominant features of the soils of the state’s extensive plains, whereas well-developed loam and clay soils are of limited extent. In their natural state most soils are deficient in essential plant nutrients and tend to have hard-setting surfaces that seal readily under raindrops, leading to erosion of bare ground in heavy storms. A century of experiment with fertilizers and pasture management has solved many of the nutrient limitations of soils in the regions of better rainfall. The most important soils agriculturally have been the hard red duplex soils of the lands near the gulfs.

Plant and animal life

Vegetation in the vast arid areas ranges from low woodlands of acacia species, cypress pines (Callitris), and beefwood (Casuarina), through shrub savannas dominated by acacia, to low shrublands of bluebush (Maireana and Chenopodium) and saltbush (Atriplex) that provide the basis for inland sheep and cattle grazing. The stony and sandy deserts support a sparse growth of hummock grasslands of porcupine (also called spinifex) grass (Triodia).

Before European settlement the southern regions, with higher rainfall and a more temperate climate, supported three principal ecosystems. Dry sclerophyll forest, dominated by rough-barked species of eucalyptus, occurred in areas receiving 30 inches (750 mm) of rain or more. Mallee vegetation, a tall open scrub of multistemmed eucalypts, occurred inland in areas with rainfall between about 12 and 20 inches (305 and 510 mm). In the intermediate rainfall zone was an open grassy savanna with smooth-barked eucalypts; this was the area that attracted the first European settlers. In more recent times, extensive managed forests, principally of pine (Pinus radiata), were established by the state government and by private companies on former scrubland and heathland in the southeast.

South Australia shares many animal, bird, and reptile species with adjacent parts of Australia. Widespread clearing of vegetation for agriculture and the competition of domesticated livestock in the arid pastoral zone have depleted numbers of most wild fauna, especially mammals. However, the echidna (spiny anteater), an unusual egg-laying mammal, is still seen regularly on the South Australian mainland and on Kangaroo Island. More than one-fourth of the some 50 species of marsupials originally native to the state are now extinct, but others are still common, including western gray kangaroos, red kangaroos, and brush-tailed possums. The state has the sole surviving population of the formerly more widespread hairy-nosed wombat. Hundreds of species of birds (including more than 20 introduced species) inhabit or visit South Australia. The state is also home to more than 200 species of reptiles and amphibians. The gibber dragon (Ctenophorus gibba), a type of lizard, and the Woomera slider (Lerista elongata), a variety of skink, are among several species of reptiles that are endemic to the state. Common amphibians include the brown tree frog, the spotted grass frog, and the eastern banjo toad.