It is rare to see a 26ºC day in Adelaide during winter, but that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday as the state sweated in summer-like warmth during the final week of winter.

An unusually warm air mass for this time of year swept into SA on Tuesday, sending temperatures 11 to 12ºC above average in some parts of the state.

The wamest place in SA on Tuesday was Tarcoola, where the mercery reached 33.4ºC. This was 12.2ºC above the August average and its warmest day since 2009.

Adelaide also had its warmest winter day in 14 years after the city reached 26.4ºC just after midday. This was more than 10ºC above average for August and close to Adelaide’s mean maximum temperature in December, which is 26.9ºC.

Image: Surface air temperature on Tuesday afternoon, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Many other places in SA experienced their warmest winter day in 16 years on Tuesday, including Cleve Airport (27.3ºC), Kingscote (23.1ºC), Strathalbyn (26.2ºC), Kadina (26.8ºC), Cape Willoughby (21.2ºC), Edithburgh (26.9ºC) and Mount Crawford (22.2ºC).

Much cooler southwesterly winds will spread across SA between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. This cooler air will make Wednesday around 10ºC cooler than Tuesday in many parts of the state.