Storms wet Wheatbelt, Perth misses out again!

It was a wet start to the week for WA's southwest as a low pressure trough triggered showers and thunderstorms.

The heaviest falls were through eastern parts of the Central Wheatbelt with Northam receiving 27mm- its heaviest daily rainfall since early 2009 and its heaviest October rainfall in 16 years! Other honourable mentions include Meckering North 36mm, Quadney 20mm, Cunderdin 13mm (24hrs to 9am Tuesday). And after receiving its heaviest rainfall in over 100 years with 53mm just one week ago, Wongan Hills got soaked by another 20mm yesterday. 

2011 marks a big shift in rainfall for WA's southwest. In 2010, the Southwest Land Division experienced its driest year in over 100 years. Many sites saw less than half the annual average rainfall, with some reporting their driest year on record. This year, many sites in the Wheatbelt including Northam, Wongan Hills and Merredin have either recorded average or above average rain so far this year.

Falls in Perth were a lot lighter with the city itself missing out altogether, highlighting the "isolated" nature of these showers and storms. Rainfall totals to 9am Tuesday included Weribee 12mm, Serpentine 4.4mm, Mandurah 2.8mm and Bickley 1.8mm. 

Today, the showers and storms are moving east to affect the Goldfileds, Eucla and southern Interior with 10-20mm possible. By tomorrow morning, the rain will have cleared to the east.

East braces for spring storms!

Rain and storms have been spreading east across the country this week delivering some of the biggest October totals in years.

The latest state to be affected is QLD with falls of 10-20mm from the northwest to southeast in 24 hours to 9am Thursday morning. The wettest was Bollon in the Maranoa district with 56mm, over a month's worth of rain (October average is 35.6mm). Other totals include St George Airport with 30.8mm, its heaviest October day of rain in 6 years and for any month since February.  Goondiwindi and Dalby both picked up 11mm.

NSW also received its fair share of rainfall with the heaviest falls in the Northern Tablelands (Glenn Innes 10mm, Windamere 15mm) and western NSW (Wilcannia Ap 15m, Booligal 19mm, Tibooburra 10mm, Broken Hill 9mm).

The system responsible for the rain and storms is a low pressure trough which is gradually tracking from west to east. Over the next few days, showers and storms will affect the eastern seaboard, including Sydney and Brisbane. Southeast QLD and northeast NSW are likely to see the heaviest falls. Severe thuderstorms with heavy falls, damaging winds and hail are possible. 

First rain in months for fire-ravaged Red Centre!

The Red Centre has welcomed its first rainfall since mid-July as a large rain-band moves from west to east across the country.

In the last 48 hours, many parts of the southern NT have picked up almost a month's worth of rain: Colyer Creek 27mm, Wigley Gorge 18.5mm, Alice Plaza 17mm, Yulara 16.6mm and Curtin Springs 14mm.

Isolated showers and storms are still affecting parts of the Barkly and northeastern Alice Springs district today, but will clear through the day as the low pressure trough and associated low continue to move east.

Sunny skies are returning to Alice Springs today with temperatures reaching the low thirties on Friday and the weekend.

Spring rain spreading across the country!

By the end of the week, most of the country will have seen rain, and it's all from one system! First it was WA, and now a low pressure trough is spreading rain and storms across the southern NT and most of SA. The moisture-ladden cloud will continue to spread east affecting western parts of NSW and QLD on Wednesday, before moving through much of eastern Australia during Thursday, Friday and the beginning of the weekend.

In the 24 hours leading up to 9am Monday, most parts of southwest WA picked up 5-15mm with Perth one of the only places to miss out. There were isolated pockets that received torrential downpours underneath intense thunderstorms. This included 53mm in Wongan Hills (Central Wheatbelt), its heaviest October rainfall in over 100 years!

Today, the rain and thunderstorm activity is affecting southern parts of the NT and most of SA. This rainfall comes as a relief to the Red Centre which has been ravaged by bushfires over the last six weeks. Widespread falls of 5-15mm are expected but once again, these isolated thunderstorms have the potential to be severe with heavy falls, damaging winds and small hail. The rain is likely to arrive in Adelaide during the late afternoon/evening.

On Wednesday/Thursday, rain and storms will spread across most western and inland parts of QLD, NSW, VIC and TAS, before affecting the east coast late Thursday/Friday and the weekend. Isolated pockets could receive heavy falls from thunderstorm activity.

Storms on the way for SE QLD!

Spring is almost here and we're already getting a taste of the type of weather it brings in southeast QLD- afternoon storms!!

This afternoon we'll see showers and storms developing in QLD anywhere east of the Northern Goldfields and Maranoa and Warrego districts, including Southeast QLD. The atmosphere is unstable and these storms have the potential to be severe with flash flooding and isolated falls of around 50mm, as well as large hailstones and damaging winds.

Last night, storms swept through parts of QLD bringing the heaviest falls to the Central Coast and Capricornia districts (Bingebang Weir 91mm, Mt Christian 80mm, St Lawrence 51mm, Prospect Creek 43mm), with around 10-20mm in parts of Maranoa and Warrego and Darling Downs (Toowoomba Ap 18mm, Yuleba 19mm, Dalby 12mm). This afternoon, the Southeast Coast will also come into play with Brisbane likely to be affected.

Journey to the centre of the earth!

Reporting on severe weather over the last few years has brought me very close to the extremes of nature. From the worst bushfires to the worst floods in Australia's history, I've seen and heard how intense, terrifying, and unrelenting the weather can be. The sounds can be deafening and the images, frightening.

Last weekend, I experienced the incredible force of nature again, only this time it wasn't coming from the sky, but the earth. Mt Yasur volcano on Tanna Island in Vanuatu is the most accessible active volcano on the planet and I couldn't believe how close I was able to get to the roaring earth and spitting lava. The blast of lava sounded like bombs exploding and the fireworks display of fire, lava, rocks and smoke was extraordinary.

The journey to the volcano is as rewarding as the volcano itself. As you 4WD through the lush jungle, you see villages full of the smiling happy faces of locals who appear genuinely excited and happy to see you. Children swing from trees or wave shyly from the road, amongst wild horses and the traditional huts they live in. It's hard to believe that all of this is only a 3 hour flight from Sydney.

The road to Mt Yasur is more like a dirt track with enormous potholes and takes about 2 hours each way. As you approach the volcano, vegetation and villages disappear to reveal a stark, grey moonscape plain of volcanic ash, with Mt Yasur blowing smoke and roaring in the distance.

As the 4WD descends up the volcano, steam leaks out from the volcanic earth. Just before the short walk up to the volcano rim you'll find a post box- the only one on a volcano in the world!

The best time to view Mt Yasur is in the late afternoon/evening when the colours are most pronounced. I was lucky enough to see it at Level 2 which is a lot of activity yet still safe enough to view. If the volcanic activity reaches Level 3 it is too dangerous to go up and see it.

Big week of rain for southwest WA!

It's set to be a big week of rainfall for southwest WA thanks to a number of cold fronts crossing the region. The most significant of these fronts is hitting on Tuesday morning and it's expected to deliver as much as 25-50mm for the west coast including Perth, with 5-15mm possible for the Central Wheatbelt favouring the western half. Most of this rain will occur during Tuesday morning with isolated showers during the afternoon. The bad news is that this front is likely to be accompanied by severe weather. Damaging winds are possible ahead the front on Tuesday morning with squally storms potentially generating powerful winds also. Damaging winds with gusts over 90kmh are strong enough to bring down trees and power lines.

The next front is due on Thursday with another 5-15mm expected for the west coast and lighter falls further inland. By the end of the week as much as 50-100mm could fall on the west coast with anywhere between 10-20mm for the Wheatbelt.

This comes on top of heavy rain just last Friday where Perth saw 57mm! This brings Perth's June rainfall so far to 128.2mm, just 6.5mm short of the June monthly average. Needless to say, many parts of the southwest will have recorded above average rain for June by the end of the month.