Mother nature to drizzle on Perth all week

After four dry days, showers are returning to Perth and are likely each day through to the end of next week, bringing 30 to 50 millimetres of  rain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The area from Mandurah to Margaret River should be the wettest with more than 50mm for some.

The wettest days are likely to be today, Saturday and Monday as three cold fronts link up with bands of cloud from the Indian Ocean.

These days are also likely to be the windiest with potential severe gusts of 90kmh or stronger in coastal parts, south of about Perth. Winds of this strength can bring down trees. Gusts in excess of 100kmh cannot be ruled out.

July is traditionally the wettest month of the year for southwest Western Australia and this coming wet spell will take most of the region to about two-thirds of the monthly average. So far, less than half the monthly average rainfall has fallen.

Perth has had 52mm, compared to the average of 149mm.

With this rain to come, this July is still unlikely to be wetter than last year when 179mm fell.

Source  :  www.watoday.com.au

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Winter storms batter WA

The latest in a series of destructive cold fronts slammed into WA overnight, causing destructive winds, rain and hail storms.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning at 6.45am, following similar warnings issued throughout the weekend.

Waves from the Swan River are washing onto the Kwinana Freeway north of Canning Highway citybound. There is also flooding on Beaufort Street in Inglewood heading into the city and on Riverside Drive.

Traffic lights are blacked out at the Great Eastern Highway and Bolton Road intersection in Burswood.

The front is the most severe of a series that have descended on WA over the past few days.

A wind gust of 115kmh was recorded at Rottnest Island about 6am today, and the Bureau is warning people to expect winds up to 100kmh with potentially damaging gusts reaching 125kmh this morning.

Alex Krisman from WeatherZone said Cape Naturaliste (109kmh) and Cape Leeuwin (104kmh) also recorded heavy gusts of wind – which coincided with a line of lightning flashes- at the same time as Rottnest Island.

Winds at Perth Airport hit 83kmh while the Perth metropolitan area clocked speeds up to 72kmh at 5.50am.

Rainfall was heavy, particularly across the south west. So far, Bridgetown has had 32mm from 9am yesterday morning.

Thunderstorms and heavy showers are forecast for today, particularly over the Lower West, South-West and South Coastal districts.

Abnormally high tides are set to cause flooding in low-lying coastal areas.

A gale warning has been issued from Kalbarri right through to the South Australian border.

Surfers are being warned to brace for heavy conditions, which are likely to cause significant beach erosion.

The State Emergency Service has warned people to secure loose objects, move vehicles under cover and stay inside away from windows.

People caught outdoors should find shelter away from trees, powerlines, storm water drains and streams. Boat owners should make sure their boats are securely moored.

Source  :   www.watoday.com.au

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Perth has over 2000 homes without power

Over 2000 homes across the metropolitan area are without power today as Western Power crews continue to repair powerlines damaged by the recent storms.

In Leederville 131 homes are without power, in Shoalwater 133 homes have been affected, 193 homes in Tuart Hill are without power and 149 Rockingham homes are blacked out.

A spokeswoman said most of the 2173 homes would have power restored this afternoon.  

150 homes where power outages have been affected by damage to a single electricity line, were expected to remain without power tonight.

More than 50 homes in the Perth Hills suburb of Parkerville have now been without electricity for almost two days.

The forecast shows showers will ease this afternoon with possible early showers Sunday morning followed by fine weather conditions.

Rising tides have battered two Perth landmarks – the Cottesloe Pylon and blue Crawley boat house on the Swan River – as wild weather hit the city.

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Perth will wake up to rain tomorrow for the first time in 26 days.

Hardly  a drop of rain has fallen on Perth as the city feels the second hottest start to the year on record. 

Perth has broke the record for the sunniest May on record today since 1876. 

Forecast shows that showers are coming to Perth about 3am tomorrow and continue until late Thursday.

Temperatures are going as low as 18 C forecast for Friday and chilly 17 C on Saturday.

Just 20mm of rain has fallen in Perth since January 1, less than half the first-quarter average of 42mm compared to last April 

The bureau expects below-average rainfall in the South-West to continue until June.

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Winter weather on its way

The first of the winter weather is expected to hit Perth next week.

Weatherzone meteorologists are forecasting wetter, windier and colder weather for most of the southern half of the state starting on Wednesday.

Weatherzone Head Meteorologist Matthew Pearce said the strength of the cold front would likely result in 20 to 30mm of rain along the coast and exposed areas stretching as far north as Geraldton and at least 5mm everywhere else.

Currently the weather is fine and sunny at 16 degrees with an expected top today of 25 degrees which will last until Sunday.

Some light showers should set in ahead of the cold front early next week.

www.watoday.com.au

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Perth’s driest start to autumn on record

This is turning out to be Perth’s driest start to autumn on record, taking at least 47 days to exceed just five millimetres of rain.   

Before this year, the longest it had taken to exceed five millimetres in autumn was 46 days and that was in 1994.

The rest of this week will be bone dry for southwest WA, much the same as the last three weeks. But rain is just around the corner.

The next rain will arrive in Perth early next week when a high finally moves east from the Bight and allows a front to make an impact on the southwest of the state. This will signal the turning of the season. Showers initially will be light but are likely to become more frequent and heavier as the week wears on as more fronts extend further inland.

Showers will even penetrate to inland areas which have been extremely dry recently. Lake Grace in the Great Southern has not had a drop of rain so far this autumn, the driest start to the season in 96 years of records.

www.watoday.com.au

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