Perth weather: Gusty winds of up to 85km/h hit metropolitan region with worst still to come

Brianna DuganThe West Australian
Camera IconAn ominous cloud forming over Broome before the downpour. Credit: Tom Zaunmayr/Broome Advertiser

Strap down your trampolines Perth, gusty winds of up to 83km/h are hitting the region — and they’re not expected to ease off any time soon.

The Perth region has been hit with high winds overnight which are expected to carry on throughout the rest of the week, creating a high fire danger.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Luke Huntingon said the heavy winds were normal for this time of year, bringing challenges for our firefighters.

“We have a ridge developing south of the State creating quite a tight pressure gradient over the regions, and we’ve got those gusty east-southeasterly winds over us at the moment,” he said.

Mr Huntingon predicts the winds will slowly ease up, giving the Perth region some relief by Friday.

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“The wind will gradually ease up for today, but the next few days (it) will be quite windy as well in the morning period. It wouldn’t be probably until Friday where we see a real easing of the winds,” he said.

“82km/h was one of the strongest (gusts) at 6.15 this morning. It looks like the next couple of days will be similar.

“It looks like tomorrow will be the strongest, up to 80-85km/h, so that will probably be the highest peak we can expect.”

The mercury is set to tip to a sunny 32C Tuesday, with BOM categorising the fire danger as “very high”.

“With the higher winds, you get the higher fire danger. As the winds drop out this afternoon, the fire danger will ease,” Mr Huntingon said.

Camera IconA yellow Suzuki Swift found itself semi-submerged in the floodwaters in Broome's Chinatown. Credit: Broome Advertiser/Tom Zaunmayr

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has declared a total fire ban for parts of the State.

The windy weather comes as the Kimberly region battles a “one in 20 to 50-year” storm.

The region has been drenched with half a metre of rain, with more than 560ml soaking the area since Sunday.

Destructive winds and a deluge of rain soaking the famous tourist town are leaving parts of it underwater.

Photographs taken in Chinatown show a yellow Suzuki Swift being trapped in the flooding, while one child kayaked past the swings and slide at a playground.

Camera IconLocal Broome children have taken to playing in the flooded parks. Credit: Renae Boyd/Supplied

Mangrove Cricket Club posted a video of two men throwing their fishing lines, beers in hand, into red running waters in the street, captioning the video “fishing competition happening in town”.

“The monsoon is over the Kimberly at the moment, and there’s that low-pressure system within that monsoon that has been causing all that heavy rainfall over the Kimberly,” Mr Huntingon said.

He said the system is not expected to become a cyclone, and the Perth region won’t feel the effects of the monsoon.

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