A STORM front delivered heavy rain to parts of the Lower South West and Great Southern on Monday and Tuesday, dumping heavy rain in the region.
Bremer Bay recorded more than 100 millimetres in 12 hours to Tuesday 9am, which delighted local farmers and filled their empty dams.
The Southern Coastal strip from Denmark through to Cape Le Grand received the most rain, causing flooding in parts.
Emergency services responded to about 30 calls for assistance mainly in the Albany area as people reported damaged roofs or flooding.
In the Department of Fire and Emergency Services warning, issued on Monday, it said the storm was "an unusual weather event in that heavy rain will be persistent in the same location over 12 hours... and that the swell direction along the south coast will approach from a different direction than is normal".
The rain comes at a time when water, or the lack of it, has been the talk of the agricultural industry in WA.
Livestock producers in some parts had destocked or were considering reducing their cattle herd and sheep flock sizes due to the dry seasonal conditions of the past few years and not enough feed on the ground for their animals to get them through to summer.
While the rain has alleviated the strain on some producers having to cart water for their livestock, they will likely benefit further due to more rain in the system which continues to cover much of the South West of the State from Geraldton to Esperance.
It is likely to do so for a few days and another front is anticipated to hit the region on Sunday.
Jerramungup Shire president Robert Lester said he had passed through three flooded areas on his way to a meeting in Albany on Tuesday where he was to be updated about any damage reports in the shire.
He said the flooding wasn't too bad but covered the roads.
Mr Lester farms at Bremer Bay and Jacup and said the cold front had delivered 111mm in 12 hours at Bremer Bay.
"It was very wet," Mr Lester said.
"Our dams had been dry but were filled by yesterday (Monday) arvo.
"I'm not sure if we had any run off at Jacup but hopefully we have had some there too.
"The weather reports suggest that the rain might not be over.
"In the past when we have had a south, south east wind it can end up dumping quite a bit of rain."
Gairdner farmers Jarrod and Chelsea King had not had any runoff rains for three years and were delighted that they finally could watch their dams filling up.
The Kings usually received 450mm on average per year but so far this year before the rains came on Monday they had just 110mm.
"We got 300mm last year and 220mm the year before that," Mr King said.
"This is the first run-off rain we have had in nearly three years - since September 2017.
"We've had 80mm and it's still raining.
"The dams are filling up.
"It will make a huge difference to us because there was not much subsoil moisture available.
"We were staring down the barrel of a really hard season.
"The crops weren't doing much and this will turn them around."
Mr King said they had been feeding sheep on and off for the past two years and carting water from the southern end of the property to the north in order to get through the challenging seasonal conditions.
This weather event would alleviate much of the pressure.
"The water and grass are there but this will kick it off," he said.
Mr King said he would be spending much of the next few days assessing the paddocks for any damage but so far the rains were "soaking in quite well".
"The creeks are flowing," he said.
"The country is pretty thirsty."
Narrikup cattle producers James and Casey Morris said they received almost 120mm since Sunday afternoon - with 78mm since Monday 2pm.
"It's the biggest rain by a long way in three years," they posted on the WA Wheatbelt Rainfall Reports Facebook page.
Mr Morris said the rain had been more of a soaking rain and it was still coming down so he expected the total amount to be much higher.
"It's the fifth lot of rain over 15mm since 2017," Mr Morris said.
He said across the 45 dams on two farms they had 34 that had been empty.
Most of those dams now had water in them but they hadn't had sufficient run off rain to fill them all completely.
On one flatter paddock two dams had become one as the water had over flowed covering much of the paddock.
"The critical rain will be in the next six weeks now that we have some moisture in the soil," Mr Morris said.
Ravensthorpe farmer Mark Murdie said he was pleased with the "welcome relief" that 20mm - 45mm brought across his farms.
"It has run a bit into the dams that had catchments but they are not full," Mr Murdie said.
"They do have a good quantity of water in them now that will get us through summer."
Mr Murdie said that crops were holding up the water in the paddocks near some of the dams, which prevented them from filling more.
"It's very timely rain," he said.
"We now have enough water for our stock through summer and it'll set the crop up to be in a good position for harvest.
"We'll need more rain to finish off."
Mr Murdie said the forecast was spot on and it was likely that they would receive a further 10mm-20mm before the front retires.
Cuballing mixed farmer Graeme Dent said last week that he had received only half his yearly rainfall at 150mm recorded from January 1 to July 30.
He said his farm was situated in a 320mm rainfall zone.
The front had brought just 12mm on Monday and wouldn't do much to fill his empty dams.
"We need 150mm between now and December," Mr Dent said.
"If it came in August and September that would be great."
Mr Dent said anything less than a run-off producing rainfall would be soaked up by the crops and pastures.
The main 5500 yard (4.2 million litre) dam which services the homestead is almost dry.
"We have seven dams on the property and they are all like this," he said.
Mr Dent has been so concerned about the lack of run off water that he has created a catchment on the hillside above the main dam to capture as much rain as possible and has also spent about $30,000 recently to dig three bores.
"At least we have water on the place," he said.
Now he just has to organise the piping and connect everything up.
The weather forecast has held true for most parts of WA this week with anticipated rainfall finally reaching areas of the South West, Great Southern and Southern Coastal regions, breaking a three-year dry spell for many farmers.
All the South West Land Division Forecast Districts received wide variations in rainfall.
In the Central West District, Mingenew received 26mm in the past seven days while Dandaragan West saw 23mm.
In the Lower West District, Wanneroo topped at 35mm while Mooliabeenee and Muchea both saw 22mm.
In the South West District, Witchcliffe received 44mm, Margaret River 40mm and Karridale 34mm.
The Southern Coastal District topped the week with Bremer Bay at 125mm, King River 122mm, Many Peaks 119mm, Albany 107mm, Denmark 84mm and Denbarker 79mm.
The Central Wheatbelt District maxed out at 17mm at Tammin, Trayning West and Hines Hill, with many areas below 10mm.
In the Great Southern District, Katanning recorded 42mm, Badgebup 34mm, Dumbleyung 28mm and Kukerin 27mm.
Despite the accuracy of forecasts for this event there's a few farmers that were upset that forecasters kept getting predictions wrong.
Cascade mixed farmer Scott Pickering said he was frustrated that millions of dollars had been spent by the Federal government on weather technology over the years and "still the forecasting was wrong".
"The sun is shining," Mr Pickering said after receiving just 4.5mm on one farm and 16mm at another farm 8km away.
"The forecasters are still saying that we are going to get rain but unless I'm wrong and it changes - they've got it wrong again."
Mr Pickering said it was the story of the year so far - that weather forecasters had predicted rain for the region and the area received very little if any at all.
"It's extremely frustrating," he said.
"I'm disappointed.
"I'm pleased that those who needed the rain have got it but when the forecast is for rain here and it doesn't come it's frustrating.
"Don't build people's hopes up - either don't say anything or get it right.
"They haven't got it right all year."
In some water deficient areas around Newdegate, Salmon Gums and Lake Grace, the rainfall has continued to be minimal.
