Storm
damages Perth as cold front sweeps SW WA 
24/12/02
Hot in southern
Australia An active cold front swept across southwestern WA this afternoon, battering the city of Perth with 100km/h winds but bringing useful rain to the area. A deepening secondary low pressure system skirted the southwest coastline during the afternoon, dropping to 986hPa by 10pm. The cold front and a squall line accompanied by heavy showers crossed Cape Leeuwin late morning and arrived in Perth around 1.30pm. Top wind gusts recorded around Perth were 102km/h at Bickley, 100 at Rottnest Island, 98 at the Airport and 96 at Swanbourne, while the Perth Metro raingauge recorded 12.8mm in 25 minutes to 2pm. Buildings were unroofed across the city, while downed trees and powerlines left 45,000 homes without power. The SES received 170 calls for assistance. At Fremantle, a ship was torn from its moorings and grounded on a sandbank in the Swan River, while sea containers were blown onto a nearby road. Reports of minor property damage also came in from Mandurah and Waroona, south of Perth. Strong wind gusts were felt farther inland as well, with some property damage reported from Nannup, 65km east of Margaret River, and wind gusts of 89 and 85km/h recorded at Cunderdin and Southern Cross respectively.
The frontal rainband and heavy showers in the following southwest stream brought useful rainfall to the dry southwest with general falls of 10 to 40mm in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday. Pemberton reported its wettest September day in 60 years of observations with a 24-hour fall of 48.4mm, while Windy Harbour broke its shorter 17 year record with a fall of 36.8mm.
Between the Western Australian front and a 1034hPa high over the Tasman, warm dry northwesterlies brought unseasonable warmth to SE WA, and most of SA and Victoria. Temperature in this unusually broad area were between 6 and 15 above the September average.