WIDESPREAD rain has fallen across Western Australia from Broome to Esperance as a deep tropical low came ashore on Sunday, accompanied by wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres an hour in some parts.
The system was touted as the biggest storm to hit WA in a decade at this time of the year and was similar to an event in June 2012, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.
The storm produced tidal surges which caused damage along the coastline, while wind ripped off roofs, blew over fences and trees and cut power to about 60,000 homes.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said it had fielded almost 600 calls for assistance.
BoM said the conditions eased as the low system moved off into South Australia but there's more rain to come as several cold fronts cross the coast on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.
BoM said the Kimberley region received between 5-25 millimetres from the deep low system on Sunday/Monday with isolated falls to 60mm.
Since then a rain band, which was not directly related to the system, has followed through behind it and added to the totals for the week.
The BoM Northern and Eastern Forecast Districts Rainfall Bulletin to Tuesday morning highlighted Mandora, between Port Hedland and Broome, in the Kimberley region as receiving the most rain at 116mm.
"It is what we expected," the BoM spokesperson said.
"We experienced severe wind gusts from the north to Albany and Kalgoorlie.
"The rainfall was also what we expected.
"The agricultural areas saw 5-15mm with 1-5mm in the Goldfields.
"That was well within our forecasting."
Agronomist Michael Lamond said the majority of the grainbelt received between 10 and 15mm from the low pressure system, except for the far east around Southern Cross and about two thirds of the Esperance port zone which received very little.
"From the Great Eastern Highway, right to the far north end of the Wheatbelt up near Yuna, which were completely dry, have now got enough rain to germinate their crops," Mr Lamond said.
"While it wasn't quite the rainfall that was expected and the wind was worse than thought, it's still basically the start for all the areas that didn't have rain up until the weekend."
As of Tuesday morning the South West Land Division Rainfall Bulletin showed that Margaret River had recorded the highest rainfall in the past seven days at 55mm.
BoM issued a warning for sheep graziers on Tuesday morning to expect "cold temperatures, showers and westerly winds" in the South Coastal, South East Coastal and parts of the Great Southern and Central Wheatbelt forecast districts.
"There is a risk of losses of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions," BoM warned.
These conditions were likely to continue to the end of the week.
BoM is predicting further falls in the agricultural region of between 10-20mm between Wednesday and Friday.
A lot of the Esperance area missed out on weekend rain, but previous rain events meant that about 30 to 40pc of crops in the area were already out of the ground.
Mr Lamond said the lack of rain this time around meant there were big parts of the zone which did not have enough moisture to germinate the crops.
"There is another front coming through on Thursday and Friday, just before the weekend, which is a more traditional winter front," Mr Lamond said.
"That means it should whip the south coast and Esperance, so while Esperance missed out last weekend, there's a high probability they will get rain before this weekend."
Caleb Levy, a farm hand on Matt Barnett's property at South Burracoppin, said they received 12mm of rain on Sunday night and 5mm on Monday.
"The wind Sunday was very bad, we were seeding right up to the last minute but the dust was making it difficult to see," Mr Levy said.
"We were seeding again on Tuesday, but I could already see the rain we got made things wet, but not wet enough.
"However it is the boost we needed for our germinated wheat we planted a couple of weeks ago."
While the rain does provide some hope for an average or above average season, there are still large areas that have little or no subsoil moisture which will need more rain in the bank to finish the season.
Without that extra rain, the drier areas run the risk of having the same finish as last year, when crops burnt off because the heat came on in the spring and there was no subsoil moisture.
Mr Lamond said areas that did not have subsoil moisture, such as the Lakes District and western areas, were certainly on track for a good year.
"For the 50pc of the Wheatbelt that had crop up before this rain, they're looking good," he said.
"For the ones that just had the rain, any break in May is good but it's too early to call their potential as without subsoil moisture you never know how the finish will go.
"We're going to need some good rainfall events in those areas that don't have subsoil moisture over the next couple of months in order to get to average or above average."
Veteran Hyden grains and sheep farmer Colin Nicholl said the family farm received about 10mm of rain overnight from Sunday and scattered showers continued through Monday.
"It wasn't as much as we had been hoping for but what we did get was certainly useful," Mr Nicholl said.
He said winds gusting up to 30-40 kilometres per hour had not caused any damage.
