File:Water in South Australia's Salt Lakes (MODIS 2023-12-15).jpg

English: December 14, 2023 December 4, 2023

As forecasters warned of a “hot and stormy” week across South Australia, a strong trough dropped a deluge on a normally arid part of the state between December 6 and 13, 2023.

According to the Weekly Australian Climate, Water and Agricultural Update published on December 14, rainfall totals of up to 150 millimeters (6 inches) were recorded across South Australia during that week. South Australia is the driest of the Australian states, with less than half of it receiving more than 400 millimeters (16 inches) in an entire year.

Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner are located in some of the most arid land of South Australia. This region receives an annual rainfall of only about 210 millimeters (8.3 inches). Under typical conditions, both lakes spend most of their days as large, dry salt pans. However, because they are so shallow, when strong rains fall, Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner can rapidly fill with water. The December storms dropped enough rain to bring the salt pans back to spectacular water-filled lakes.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image of freshly-filled Lake Torrens (east) and lake Gairdner (west) on December 14. This type of image uses both visible and infrared light to help visualize specific features, such as separating deeper water (dark blue) from salt (bright blue) and moist salt (teal). Here, arid or sparsely vegetated land looks tan, while vegetation is green.

A second false-color image of the same area was captured by Aqua MODIS on December 4, before the torrential rains. This image, which can be viewed by clicking on the date, shows the lakes filled with salt, most of which appears quite dry (lightest blue). The deep waters of Spencer Gulf are seen in the lower right (southeast) section image and appear dark blue.