Hail the size of golf balls has pelted Adelaide in a sudden downpour as spring storms moved across South Australia.

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Social media exploded with pictures of people holding the massive blocks of ice which fell from the sky as lightning struck.

At one stage, the Bureau of Meteorology was tracking four thunderstorms moving in a south-easterly direction across Adelaide, the Barossa and the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Senior forecaster Mark Anolak said some rainfall stations had received between five to 10 millimetres in just 10 minutes.

"Larger hail has fallen, particularly through the north-eastern areas of the Adelaide metropolitan area," he said.

"I don't now how often we see hailstones this big in Adelaide.

"If a severe thunderstorm wants to create large hailstones, it will dump it where it wants to."

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Warning issued 30 minutes before storm hit

Mr Anolak said the bureau put out a severe thunderstorm warning, "particularly cell-based warning" for the Adelaide metropolitan area about 4:25pm — which was half an hour before it struck.

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"We haven't heard of any damaging reports, but winds did get up to 30 knots, or about 60 kilometres per hour on the metropolitan waters," Mr Anolak said.

Power was lost to about 1,000 properties in parts of Adelaide, the Mid North, and Yorke Peninsula.

The Country Fire Service said Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills bore the brunt of the storm.

It said crews initially responding to a fire alarm found a roof in the Mount Barker shopping centre had partially collapsed due to water inundation.

The CFS said four to five specialty shops and a Coles supermarket had been severely affected by the storm, and the damage — before stock assessment — was estimated to be worth up to $250,000.

The severe thunderstorm warning for the Adelaide city region has been cancelled, but at 9:00pm warnings were still in place for surrounding areas.

This included the Riverland and Murraylands, parts of the North East Pastoral districts and the state's south-east.