Towering waves exceeding 7 meters are expected to hit the Perth coast as the first in a series of strong winter cold fronts begins battering the city this morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather alert with damaging winds and heavy rain expected to persist through Wednesday.
Perth’s weather radar on Monday morning. Credit:BOM
Duty forecaster Jessica Lingard told 6PR’s Gareth Parker that Perth could see up to 100 mm of rain over the next few days.
“We could see some quite heavy rainfall along the coastal areas and likes up to 90 kilometers an hour throughout today as this first front moves through and also the chance of some thunderstorms as well,” she said.
“We’re going to have three solid days of really, really strong winds which means your trees, fences, that sort of thing, don’t have a chance to recover, they’re just gonna get take this constant battering.”
Lingard said the strong winds were expected to persist until late Wednesday evening.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said the weather system was expected to be windier and longer lasting than a typical front and is likely to produce the kind of weather only seen once per year.
The spokesman said significant wave heights exceeding 7 meters with periods of around 16 seconds are expected in some locations.
“Sustained heavy surf conditions are likely to persist until late Wednesday and tides are also likely to be higher than forecast,” he said.