Beverley farms received up to 85mm of rain, while Meckering suffered damage from hail over the weekend.

While the Bureau of Meteorology's official figures show Mount Hardey, south east of York received 69.2 millimetres of rain, farmers in the area reported higher totals, with 100mm at nearby Kauring and 94mm near Brookton.

There were also multiple reports of rain gauges being heavily damaged.

On average, towns between Narrogin and York received 20-40mm, with York recording 32.4mm and Northam 21.2mm.

A bureau spokesperson said the rainfall was within expectations, but there wasn't any more rain forecast for the time being.

Towns between Albany and Esperance could expect cloud cover and light showers of 1-2mm are expected across the coast this week.

There were also reports of hail within the Shire of Cunderdin, with Meckering most affected, and reports of golf-ball-sized ice falling across farmland in the area.

Iron Bark Farmstay farmers Andrew and Lisa West recorded 38mm of rain at Meckering, while another section of the property received 48mm.

They received hail the size of 10 cent pieces which damaged cladding on one of the holiday cabins, while a few trees in their tree nursery were also damaged.

The Wests had a ute and tractor outside which was not damaged.

Despite damage to the cabins, the Wests were thankful as it was the first real rain event the farm had seen since last November.

"The moisture was fantastic," Mr West said

With the radar predicting the rain to fall east of Iron Bark Farmstay, Mr West was pleasantly surprised when it started.

He had planned to burn some canola stubble prior to seeding in April, but now wasn't sure if the stubble would be dry enough.

"It's going to be interesting to see if we can get a hot enough burn on some of the canola stables, but I'm really rapt that it has put a bit of moisture in the ground for April, so even if we get 10mm later then that's fine," Mr West said.

Near Southern Brook, farmer Chris Antonio received about 15mm, which he said was "nice and consistent".

"Meckering got hail which wasn't far away, so I'm counting ourselves lucky, it was actually pretty good," Mr Antonio said.

He said he wasn't sure what to expect for April, as the weather was extremely unpredictable this time of year.

Mr Antonio was hoping for a little more rain and soil moisture before starting seeding mid-April.

"This time of the year I'm looking at BoM every day, but that's not just me - everyone is looking at the website every day," he said.

AV Weather private meteorologist Anthony Violi said this wasn't a sign of what was to come - suggesting with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) farmers were in for a dry one.

In the past couple of years, WA has benefited from a negative IOD, however natural weather cycles have meant the State is now experiencing a positive IOD.

A positive IOD means warmer water in the Indian Ocean congregates near Africa, while cold water congregates near Australia.

This cuts off WA's moisture source, as easterly winds move rain towards Africa.

Usually affecting Australia between June and November, Mr Violi believes this year's IOD is going to start early - and may have already started - as radars have picked up on increased easterly winds across the Indian Ocean.

"I've been forecasting since January that we're going to see early breaks across the country, I think we are going to see some early rains in the coming weeks," Mr Violi said.

He suggested after some early April rains, rain clouds would be few and far between until July - when he expected some decent rain.

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With a dry August and September, farmers can expect an increase in frost.

"A dry spring will open us up to getting severe frost this year, probably July and August will be our last chance for rain," Mr Violi said.

Bureau duty forecaster Luke Huntington said forecasts were showing a low chance of exceeding median rainfall in the next three months.

In the South West, it was particularly low, with a 30pc chance of exceeding the median rainfall.

Mr Huntington said this was due to a lack of climate drivers at the moment, as Australia was experiencing neutral conditions - not being an El Nino or La Nina pattern.

He said BoM had tracked a trend of reduced rainfall over the past 40 years with farmers experiencing drier winters.

"The South West has been much drier over the past 40 years, it's trending downwards with the rainfall," Mr Huntington said.

Mr Violi said this year was looking similar to 2019 where farmers had some really good rain in March, and then it was dry until the middle of June.

"We had about 150mm between the middle of June and the end of July, and then it was really hot and dry - it didn't rain after that point," Mr Violi said.

However, Geraldton Elders agronomist Peter Elliott-Lockhart said farmers needed to take these forecasts with a pinch of salt, as he didn't believe any forecasting system gave an accurate idea of what was to come.He would like to see more WA investment by the bureau, similar to that from Queensland's bureau which had spent "lots of time and money in the late 90s and early 2000s" developing its forecasting ability.

"Their system correlates pretty well for their ability to forecast seasonal rain on the scale of probably going to be wetter than average or drier than average," Mr Elliott-Lockhart said.

He said more money and study should be put into the Indian Ocean Dipole, the same way study has been done on La Nina/ El Nino in the Eastern States.

Mr Elliott-Lockhart said the Indian Ocean being a dangerous and wild ocean meant not many people wanted to put buoys and other measurement equipment out there, but he said it was essential for WA to have access to a better forecasting system.