Severe weather warning for the west and north

Australian Community Media

Storm systems moving across the inland from the west through to the east, bringing extreme gusts, high rainfall, and potentially damaging storms.

Transcript

00:00Rain and severe thunderstorms are likely to impact large parts of Western Australia over

00:04the coming days, including the southwest land division and Perth.

00:08Let's take a look at the details now, starting with today's thunderstorm forecast.

00:13The green areas on this map show where thunderstorms are possible.

00:17That includes much of northern and central Western Australia today, but also pushes down

00:21towards the southwest coast and the Perth area.

00:24Through the southwest, storms are possible later this afternoon and evening.

00:29They're unlikely to bring too much rainfall, but may bring some gusty winds at times.

00:34Storms are more likely across inland parts of the state.

00:36In fact, we have severe storms possible in this area across the Pilbara, Gascoigne and

00:40interior.

00:42Storms in these parts may bring locally damaging winds or heavy falls to those inland areas

00:47today.

00:48As we go to tomorrow, though, and look at tomorrow's thunderstorm forecast, we can

00:52see how our storm areas become a lot more widespread, particularly our yellow, severe

00:57thunderstorm areas.

00:58For tomorrow, that covers much of central and southwestern Western Australia.

01:04In these severe storm areas tomorrow, our storms are most likely to bring heavy rainfall.

01:09We could also see some damaging wind gusts and large hail, particularly across inland

01:13areas, but rain is the biggest hazard with any storms tomorrow.

01:18Taking a close-up look at our severe storm area, we can see that it does cover some parts

01:22of the west coast between Kalbarri and Margaret River, then pushes inland to Kalgoorlie.

01:27However, it is worth noting that the coastal fringe is not included in this severe storm

01:32area.

01:33Perth may see non-severe storms through tomorrow afternoon and evening, but it's more the

01:38eastern suburbs which may catch some of those heavy falls that could lead to flash flooding.

01:43Because that is certainly one of the main hazards we're looking at over the next few

01:46days.

01:47Water moving over the roads, interrupting traffic and transport, and potentially cutting

01:51off some access routes across those more inland areas.

01:55The rain may also bring some damage to crops and vegetation across our southern agricultural

01:59areas.

02:00And of course the strong winds with storms may bring down trees or tree limbs, or even

02:04power lines, leading to power outages for some.

02:08So what is driving all of this severe and dangerous weather?

02:11Well we've got a low pressure trough, this blue dashed line here, lying close to the

02:15west coast, but it is connecting with a low pressure system which is sitting just off

02:20the coast there.

02:22Over the next day that is going to generate the unstable conditions across inland parts

02:26of the state, leading to those thunderstorms.

02:29As we go into tomorrow though, this system is going to tap into significant moisture,

02:34drawing it down from the Indian Ocean and directing it across southwestern parts of

02:38Western Australia.

02:39That will feed into any showers and storms that develop, giving them that potential for

02:43heavy falls and flash flooding.

02:47This trough is likely to linger near the coast through Tuesday, but as we go overnight

02:51and into Wednesday we'll start to see it pushing away from the west coast a little more.

02:56That means through the course of Wednesday we'll start to see some clearing conditions

03:00along the west coast, including for the Perth region, but showers, rain and storms are likely

03:05to continue across inland parts of the state.

03:09That's a story that's likely to persist into Thursday as well, as the rain and storm risk

03:13starts moving east.

03:16So exactly how much rainfall are we looking at over the next few days?

03:19Well, starting from tomorrow morning and pushing our way out over the next few days, we can

03:23see that our cumulative rainfall totals are fairly hit and miss.

03:27They're largely determined by where those storms will develop and where the storms will

03:31track.

03:32Many areas may see 30 to 60 mm, but exactly where we'll see those highest falls depends

03:38on those thunderstorms.

03:39Most likely though that will occur across inland areas and is less likely to occur along

03:44the southwest coast.

03:47With severe storms a risk not just today but over the next few days as well, be sure to

03:51stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website, the

03:55BOM Weather App and via our social media.

03:57Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.

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