Climate of Western Australia

Western Australia covers an area of some 2.5 million square kilometres and extends over a latitude band from about 14 degrees south to 35 degrees south. Consequently there are quite a number of climatic zones, ranging from the north Kimberley, where heavy rains are experienced in the summer 'wet' season, through the mostly dry interior with its excessive summer heat, to the southwest with its distinctively Mediterranean climate. Snow occasionally falls in the far south during winter, particularly on the Stirling Range.

The size of the land mass is a major influence on the State's climate. There is a general decrease in rainfall and an increase in the range of temperatures experienced as one moves away from the coast.

Owing to a history of geological stability, much of Western Australia consists of a broad, relatively featureless plateau between 300 and 600 metres above mean sea level, with only the Pilbara and the Kimberley having any major areas of rugged country. The highest peak is Mount Meharry at 1251 metres, in the Hamersley Range. The highest land in the south is to be found in the Stirling Range, where Bluff Knoll reaches 1096 metres. Though less pronounced than in most other States, topographic features do exert a significant influence in some areas. Near the lower west coast, for example, a rapid increase in rainfall can be measured from the coastal plain to the top of the Darling Range, followed by a marked decrease to the east. Inland temperatures are modified to some degree by the elevation of the land, but the effect is not large.