Perth & WA weather: Thunderstorms to hit across State, wind warnings in place

As an estimated 15,000 people descend upon Ascot ready to celebrate the nation’s biggest horse race, Mother Nature has other plans.

Thunder and lightning will hit WA throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, with an expected 10 to 20mm of rainfall forecast to pour across the State.

Bureau meteorologist Jessica Lingard told PerthNow thunderstorms and lightning had already hit some areas of WA in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“We saw some thunderstorms affecting Perth’s southern suburbs early in the morning, and as the day has progressed, we have seen more (lightning/thunder) hitting the eastern and northern suburbs,” Ms Lingard said.

The trough bringing the wet weather across WA is located higher in the sky than usual, causing storms to feel more humid — with Tuesday’s forecast reaching a high of 30 degrees.

Despite the mugginess from the storms, Ms Lingard warns there still is a chance of hail hitting the metropolitan area.

“Hail is always a risk, it’s the nature of storms — while the humidity will likely melt most large hailstones that form, there is a chance of pea-sized hail hitting the ground near Perth’s eastern suburbs.”

A strong wind warning has also been issued for those living along the Gascoyne, Geraldton, Leeuwin and Albany coasts.

The warnings indicate each area will be hit with average wind speeds greater than 63km/hr, or will experience gusts exceeding 90km/hr.

These warnings will stay in effect for the regions on Wednesday, with the Perth and Bunbury coastal areas also warned of high-speed winds.

The Bureau said they had observed stronger winds near the Geraldton and Albany coastlines so far on Tuesday morning, and were remaining vigilant for any further instances of heavy winds.

“The Bureau will continue to monitor the wind speeds across Western Australia and issue additional wind warnings for residents if necessary,” Ms Lingard said.

Showers and storms will continue on throughout Wednesday morning and afternoon, with Ms Lingard telling PerthNow tomorrow “would be slightly wetter” for Perth residents.

“The west coast trough will move south-east on Wednesday, reducing some humidity but causing more rainfall to hit the ground.”

The stormy WA forecast comes after several days of wild weather in Australia.

Tennis ball-sized hail and winds over 100km/hr have wreaked havoc across South-east Queensland for the third day in a row, with meteorologists warning Queenslanders to remain vigilant over the coming days.

New South Wales was also slammed with stormy weather, with emergency services receiving 200 calls for help yesterday after a Sydney storm left a trail of toppled power lines and hailstones in its wake.

PERTH FORECAST

Tuesday: 15C - 30C, Showers & storms ⛈️

Wednesday: 15C - 25C, Showers🌧️

Thursday: 14C - 22C, Partly cloudy ⛅

Friday: 12C - 24C, Partly cloudy ⛅

Saturday: 13C - 27C, Sunny ☀️

Sunday: 16C - 30C, Sunny ☀️

Monday: 15C - 31C, Sunny ☀️