Rain, rain, come again: Grain growing ‘rollercoaster’ season continues with falls of 1mm to 96mm Statewide

The State’s grain farmers continue to ride a rollercoaster of a season with thunderstorms delivering “game changing” heavy rain as well as lightning and damaging winds during the past week. The wildest of the weather was on Wednesday, September 13, when thunderstorms smashed through power lines, uprooted trees and damaged homes in Perth and country WA. There were 180 calls for help in WA to the State Emergency Services that day, mostly for roof damage and trees across roads, with about 50 of those calls in regional WA. More than 24,000 people lost power as falling trees took down power lines, and closed roads including Forrest Highway in Myalup and South Western highway near Donnybrook. A healthy 22mm was recorded at Badgingarra on September 13, where Barnes Hydraulics co-owner Catherine Barnes said farmers and local businesses were rejoicing after a dry few months. “It was a great storm, we don’t have a farm but my husband has a hydraulics business so all of our clients rely on the rain,” she said. “We need the rain to keep the farmers happy … it has that flow-on effect. “It was initially a worry how windy it was and there wasn’t much rain, but the rain settled in and stayed, and we got 20mm. So that was great.” At Narrogin, a woodland boardwalk was splintered as a massive tree smashed through the decking and the Gnarojin Park irrigation tank, which features a mural painted by Williams artist Georgina Patterson in 2022, was torn open. The most consistent falls for the week between September 11 and 18 were recorded in the Perth, Peel and South West areas, with towns close to the coast including Lancelin (43mm), Myalup (44mm), Vasse (85mm), Scott River (25mm), Northcliffe (69mm) notching up healthy falls. The biggest rainfall totals were reached in the South West, with a huge 95mm recorded at Nannup, 97mm at Pemberton, and 96mm at Lawson Road, near Rosa Brook. The Mid West and Esperance regions widely missed out, receiving what many have called “hand to mouth” falls of up to 10mm, with 9mm at Mingenew, 4mm at Canna, and 7mm at Binnu. Along the South Coast, 7mm was recorded at Cascade, 4mm at Salmon Gums and 3mm at Boyatup. It depended which cloud you were standing under across the Wheatbelt and Great Southern, where falls of between 10 and 25mm fell from Latham in the north to Narrikup in the South. Beacon farmer Craig Shipway said the 15mm that fell would be a game-changer at his property and help to fill grain heads after receiving just 164mm for the year so far. At Wubin, the 15mm that fell at Jenna Waterhouse’s property west of town was the first double-figure rainfall total since June 5. Dowerin resident Sam Williams used his Toyota Prado to hold down a trampoline that had earlier been seen flying through the streets, with the picture generating plenty of attention online. Strong winds averaging 50 to 60kmph were also recorded, while Morawa recorded a gust of 109km/h at 12.37pm, while a gust of 93km/h was recorded at Perth Airport. The variable season across WA means grain farmers are expected to produce 60 per cent less grain and reel in a 16.96Mt harvest this year after a bin bursting record 26Mt last year. HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS September 11 to 18 (According to the Bureau and DPIRD) Beverley 56mm Capel 52mm Cordering 30mm Cranbrook 26mm Frankland 27mm Kewda 27mm Lawson Road 96mm Nannup 95mm New Norcia 38mm Pemberton 87mm Qualelup 35mm Regans Ford 40mm York 27mm