POWERING SMARTER WEATHER DECISIONS
Search

Broome receives more rain in two days than the whole of last year

 

Parts of the Kimberley have been lashed with the heaviest rainfall in 120 years, with the multi- day deluge leaving towns, roads, and railways underwater. 

  @lauren.hall95 flood Broome WA 30JAN22 (1)

Image: Flooding in Broome on Sunday, January 30, Source: @lauren.hall95 

Businesses and residents across northern WA can expect heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and damaging winds to continue as the monsoon trough and a low-pressure system deepen in the region. 

The map below shows a deep low-pressure system over the Kimberley embedded within the monsoon trough, which is slowly moving southwest. 

 sat 1.2

Image: Visible satellite image at 11:10am EDT on Tuesday, February 1, showing thick cloud over northern WA. 

Broome Airport has recorded 326mm of rain since 9am Monday morning, with 48-hour totals reaching a 120-year high of 563mm. In just two days, Broome airport received more rain than during the whole of 2021.  

To the east of Broome, Fitzroy crossing saw daily rainfall totals of 128mm to 9am Monday morning. Koolan Island also clocked a 102km/h damaging wind gust on Monday morning. 

Damaging winds will continue to affect parts of the Kimberley, Pilbara and the northern interior on Tuesday, with gusts of 100km/h possible. The strongest winds are likely over the southwest Kimberley, where locally destructive gusts above 125 km/h are possible.  

Heavy rainfall will also linger in these regions near the low-pressure system on Tuesday and early Wednesday. Daily rainfall totals of 100 to 200 mm are likely, with isolated falls in excess of 250mm.  

 rain

Image: Access-G 24-hour rainfall totals to 8am Wednesday, February 2. 

The rainfall will focus inland from Wednesday, as the low moves east briefly. Coastal locations such as Broome will notice a significant easing in the rain as this happens. 

The low is expected to move off the Pilbara coast on Thursday night into Friday, with rainfall expected to ease slightly as it moves away from the area. 

As the low moves off the northwest coast, there is a low chance at this stage of it developing into a tropical cyclone. However, at this stage, the low is expected to move towards the west and away from the Australian mainland after it moves offshore. 

 

Weatherzone’s flood risk system 

We have developed a flood risk system which accurately determines rainfall intensity at any given point along your mine site, catchment, road or railway.  

The system uses radar technology which scans typically every 6-10 minutes, sending your business regular alerts or updates for your specific mine site or railway using geofencing technology.

Will the flood event subside, continue or worsen? The rainfall risk system is used in combination with Opticast™, an industry leading forecast system which forecasts rainfall intensity and accumulation at your location.  

Weatherzone also provides businesses with long term rainfall forecasting solutions out to 6 months, which allows businesses to plan well in advance and reduce the impact on day-to-day operations. For more information, please contact us at business@weatherzone.com.au.  

Latest news

Satisfy your weather obsession with these news headlines from around the nation, and the world.

Wind farms facing potential cut outs

  Fierce winds are expected to lash parts of Vic, Tas, the ACT and NSW early next week, bringing the risk of wind farm cut outs in the region.  A low-pressure system should develop early next week near Vic and NSW as a cold front interacts with tropical moisture.  This cold front will sweep across SA […]

Exceptionally warm, dry March for parts of SA

Soaring temperatures and abundantly clear skies have just caused one of the warmest and driest Marches on record in parts of South Australia. Abnormally high pressure near southern Australia this month has kept rain-bearing systems away from SA, leading to plenty of warm and dry weather across the state. Image: Clear skies over SA on […]

Easter deluge possible as tropical moisture moves south

The tropical moisture that caused significant flooding in the NT and Qld is set to move southeast over Easter, bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and possible flooding and damaging winds with it.  The map below shows the massive rainfall totals that fell across the southern NT and parts of Qld over the last week.  Image: The […]

Smoke from WA bushfires seen from space

  Several fires are burning across southwest WA this week, with smoke plumes seen from 36,000km above the surface.   A previously out-of-control bushfire in Perth’s southwest is now under control, after burning 3000 hectares of land and damaging property.  As of 10am WST On Tuesday, March 26, four other fires are burning in the […]