South Australia is bracing for a second serving of wild September weather - and this one could be even bigger than the first.
The Bureau of Meteorology says up to 100 millimetres of rain will fall in the Adelaide Hills on Wednesday and Thursday as a strong cold front and deepening low pressure system sweep the state.
The predicted foul weather comes after pounding rain wrecked several roads and flooded 80 homes across Adelaide earlier this month.
"The indication from the system is that it is larger than the previous one," SA's Bureau of Meteorology director John Nairn told reporters on Monday.
"Certainly we have a strong indication of heavy rain, with similar totals possibly over a shorter period of time."
But it's not just the rainfall that concerns state authorities this time around - storm-force winds are expected to accompany the drenching.
"There's a much broader area of gale-force winds approaching us over the coastal waters," Mr Nairn said.
"And through Wednesday night and Thursday morning there will be a period where over waters there will be storm-force winds - much stronger than gale-force."
He said these winds will average about 90km/h and may whip the Eyre Peninsula and Spencer Gulf, creating strong waves.
The severe weather comes at an unwelcome time, with catchments across the hills and much of the state already saturated from recent downpours.
It will also stress fatigued State Emergency Service crews.
"It's true that we've got tired crews. It's been a long and tough winter for volunteers," SES chief officer Chris Beattie said.
"But South Australia is well served by its SES and our crews are preparing for this coming weather.
"We're comfortable with the resources in place within the state - we'll just be backing up for another two, three days of high operational tempo."
Mr Beattie said the SES had received about 8000 call outs since early May, which was more than the total for the previous financial year.
