Severe weather warnings in place for much of the south and west of the nation.
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00:00Rain and severe thunderstorms to impact much of western, central and southern WA
00:05this week and we can already see widespread rain and thunderstorm
00:08activity extending from Carnarvon through much of western WA and into
00:13southern areas. Already seen some showers and storms around the Perth area in the
00:17last hour or two and that could increase in the coming hours as well. We'll notice
00:21a much more extensive band of rain and thunderstorm activity through much of
00:25the Wheatbelt and also into the Goldfields and Gascoyne as well and we
00:28do see a large area of thunderstorms expected today. These highlighted yellow
00:33areas show where we could see thunderstorms possibly severe today with
00:37heavy rainfall and gusty winds the main threat. Notice right along the coast
00:41though we're only seeing non severe thunderstorms today but they're still
00:45likely to bring some gusty winds and brief periods of heavy rainfall but the
00:48focus of the more impactful storms will be further inland and across much of the
00:52Wheatbelt. Not good news for those harvesting. But tomorrow could be an
00:56even bigger day particularly for inland areas to eastern parts of the Wheatbelt
01:01maybe into southern parts of the southern inland as well but notice just
01:04a thunderstorm risk along the west coast as most of the activity moves further
01:08inland. But if you live in these highlighted red areas or know someone
01:12that does, these could be thunderstorms could bring down heavy rainfall that
01:15could lead to flash flooding and possible inundation of property and
01:18agricultural land. That also means we could see damage to crops particularly
01:22for those harvesting right now so rain and storms they're not so good news and
01:26also possible power outages as well particularly where any of those storms
01:29across areas of towns with power could knock out trees and power lines there so
01:34definitely those in the red highlighted area tomorrow could be the focus of
01:37those severe thunderstorms. But let's have a look at more of the detail of
01:41this rain and storm activity. So today we're seeing widespread rain and
01:44thunderstorm activities particularly over much of the Wheatbelt for those
01:48really don't need it and through coastal areas as well including Perth and down
01:51towards the southwest Capes. Now as we move into tonight and tomorrow we'll see
01:56this area of weather continue to move slowly eastwards with another day of
02:00widespread rain and thunderstorm activity through inland parts of WA but
02:04do note starts clearing trend through Carnarvon, Kalbarri and down through
02:08Perth and later in the day into the southwest Capes but the heavy rainfall
02:12and severe storms moving to inland areas through the eastern Wheatbelt and
02:16towards the Kalgoorlie and Esperance areas. Then as we move into Wednesday
02:19night and Thursday we'll continue to see a contraction of this weather
02:23activity into eastern parts of the state but notice we'll see another burst of
02:27showers, gusty winds and cooler conditions for the southwest WA on
02:30Thursday. So what does this all mean in terms of rainfall? Well you can see
02:34widespread unseasonal 20 to 50 millimetres across much of WA in the
02:40coming three days and particularly over our harvesting areas of the southwest
02:43land division and Wheatbelt where heavy rainfall in these areas will have a
02:47major impact for those with ongoing harvesting activities and in some areas
02:51where we have dirt roads further inland this heavy rainfall could lead to brief
02:54road closures and isolation of community and our remote residents. So please if
02:59you know someone who lives in these areas make sure you stay up to date with
03:03the latest forecasts and warnings in the coming days via our website, app and
03:06social media and listen to all advice from emergency services.