Record rainfall looms

Katanning recorded nearly 30mm of rain in one hour on Monday, more than its total December average.

In the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, Katanning’s weather station recorded 38.4mm, with 23.2mm recorded from 10am to 11am.

In the previous 24 hours to 9am Monday, Katanning picked up 15mm.

It brings the town’s December rainfall to 52.8mm, already surpassing the 2015 December total of 34.2mm and its average of 25.5mm.

With half of December remaining, Katanning could pass its record rainfall total for the month which was 82.8mm.

Department of Agriculture and Food WA research officer John Collins said the rain would slow down the harvest for some farmers.

“The rain will indeed slow down harvest as farmers will have to wait for crops to dry before moisture levels are low enough to harvest,” he said. “There was a downpour Monday morning between 10 to 11am which has resulted in some localised flooding.”

The Shire of Katanning closed all unsealed roads to traffic over 4.5 tonnes on Monday to reduce road damage.