Rainfall records broken in Mid West as Kalbarri, Morawa see highest winter rainfall ever

The Mid West had higher than average rainfall across winter, with a coastal town smashing a 46-year-old rainfall record. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Kalbarri recorded 548.1mm of rainfall across the winter months, surpassing the previous total of 324.8mm set in 1978. The rain has been so strong in Kalbarri, it has already set a new record for the wettest year on record, surpassing the previous record of 547.4mm from 1984. June alone saw more than 300mm of rainfall, with the town experiencing flooding as a result. Port Denison (386.4mm), Tenindewa (328.6mm), and Morawa (288.6mm) were among the Mid West regions to surpass their previous winter records, alongside Kalbarri. Northampton traditionally experiences more rainfall than other parts of the Mid West, and this winter was no exception, recording 446.8mm. It was 167.8mm above the winter average for the region. In Geraldton, 386.8mm of rain fell from June to the end of August, which was the highest rainfall recorded for the area over the past 20 years. The result was a stark contrast to 2023, which was widely regarded as one of the driest years on record for the Mid West. This year’s winter result in Geraldton was more than double last year’s rainfall during the same period (172.8mm). Mullewa (329.4mm), Mingenew (302.8mm), and Coorow (224.2mm) all surpassed their respective averages for winter. The Gascoyne saw the majority of places see between 50-200mm of rain during winter. According to the Bureau, Carnarvon saw a massive difference in rainfall compared to this time last year. After having just 5.6mm of rain last winter, 175.2mm was recorded in 2024 which was the highest recorded figure for the town in 20 years. Meanwhile Shark Bay saw 142.2mm of rain, its largest haul since 2018.