News

Hefty storms pummel WA's south

Source Weatherzone Fri 03 Apr 2026

Thunderstorms early this Good Friday impacted Western Australia's south with high intensity, bringing more than a month's rain in just a few hours. The biggest storms impacted Great Southern, southern Goldfields, Southern Coastal and South East Coastal districts, For some, including Munglinup (36mm), Esperance Airport (34mm) and Hopetoun North (18mm), it was the biggest rain since last winter. For others, it was the biggest rain in a year. In just a few hours early this morning, Munglinup West and Lake Grace received their highest daily rainfall since last April, gaining 44mm and 26mm, respectively. This is more than a month's worth of rain for both places. Kulkerin, with a relatively mediocre 19mm, also had its biggest rain in 12 months. One of the biggest downpours occurred at Magenta Dam, a short drive southeast of Newdegate, receiving 78mm in six hours, including 45mm in 3 hours and 28mm in an hour. The monthly average for this area is about 28mm. Of course, with thunderstorms, often someone gets too much too fast, others get too little. Newdegate, barely a 15-minute drive from Magenta Dam (82mm in total), picked up a paltry three millimetres. Image: Lightning, radar, satellite, rainfall observations and isobars at 5:30am WST. Source: Weatherzone.  After sunrise, the most intense thunderstorms had shifted east of Salmon Gums area by 7:30am WST. Image: Lightning, radar, satellite, rainfall observations and isobars at 7:30am WST. Source: Weatherzone.   Looking ahead for southern WA, the offending trough will take the main area of thunderstorms slowly east across the Nullarbor between now and Easter Sunday. Another trough will take over from late Sunday through to mid-next week, generating showers and storms over a similar area. Many places are a chance to receive two or more thunderstorms this weekend, taking them to near or above their monthly average rainfall, barely a week into April. After a dry start to summer, less than two millimetres during November and December, Munglinup West has made a rainy comeback, gaining about 123mm since the start of February.      Image: Monthly rainfall observations compared to averages for Munglinup West. Source: Weatherzone.   - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2026