Cool days tipped for South West winter

Rug up for cooler winter days and prepare for warmer nights, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s season outlook.

Winter is likely to be wetter than average across most of the State, with the exception of parts of the South West where there is no strong push towards wetter or drier than average conditions.

For the July to September period, Bunbury has a likely (61 per cent) chance of above median rainfall.

Bureau long-range forecasting manager Andrew Watkins said the expected temperatures fell in line with the expected rainfall conditions.

“Areas with a higher chance of above average rainfall are also looking at increased chances of cooler than average days because they are more likely to have cloud cover and more evaporative cooling in the coming months,” Dr Watkins said.

It means our nights are more likely to be warmer than average, because that cloud cover will prevent heat from escaping during the evenings.

The bureau also published its autumn summary, showing Bunbury recorded 173.2mm of rainfall throughout the season — 20.1mm above autumn average.

Throughout the region, Busselton Airport recorded the most rainfall collecting a whopping 232.8mm, 74.5mm above autumn average, followed by Donnybrook with 204.4mm, 2.6mm below average for autumn.

Cape Leeuwin clocked the strongest wind gust for the season at 131km/h from the recent “once-in-a-decade” storm.

Bunbury’s hottest day of the season was April 11 when temperatures reached a warm 34.6C, before plunging to the lowest temperature of 2.5C on May 9.

Collie East shivered through the coldest temperature in the South West in autumn, dropping as low as -0.6C on May 10.

Two severe storms lashed the South West in May, which helped Bunbury to record high rainfall at 114.4mm, 17.4mm above the May average, and Collie East to collect 140.8mm, 47.8mm above the average.