A Complete History of Tornadoes in WA

© Ira Fehlberg 1998

This is a record of known tornadic events only. Not all tornadoes are seen or reported. Reference material used. The West Australian newspaper and Willy Willies and Cockeyed Bobs by D. Seargent. Many thanks to D.Seargent and especially to Barry Hanstrum of Severe Weather in Perth for letting me have access to the severe weather database. I also have many pictures showing damage and maps of the tracks on the way. These distribution maps can be purchased.  If you are interested send us an email.

A summery of tornadic events in WA by Ira Fehlberg

16/6/54 Tornado at Lyalls Mill area near Collie. This Tornado was an F-3. The track was 84k's in length and 200m wide. The fallen trees kept the local mill employed for one year cleaning up.

10/1/57 A Willy Willy tore a roof of a house in the Perth suburb of Guilford.

22/5/58 18:30 Tornado in the Perth suburb of St James.

30/5/58 18:30 Tornado near Goomalling.

1/7/58 15:00 A tornado passed the Perth suburbs of Mosman Park and Bicton.

2/8/59 10:00 Tornado near Williams.

Byford Tornado which occurred on 1/1/60.

This Tornado appears to have been relatively weak with only a small track length. Although it did some extensive damage. Early in the day a belt of storms had began forming over Perth and moved south. Some hail was also recorded in the area on the day.

Collie Tornado which occurred on April 6th 1960.

This Tornado was very destructive and quite large. One of the biggest tornadoes ever in WA if not the country. It laid total destruction to a Jarrah forest. An F-3. The track was 32k's in length and 250m wide! The storm was formed in a trough line ahead of a cold front

24/1/61 16:00 Tornado in the town of Wundowie. 31.8 116.4

27/7/61 15:30 Tornado at Bunbury

27/761 Tornado at Donnybrook

27/7/61 Tornado at Brookhampton.

11/02/62 7:30. Tornado at Woolgungie. 31.1 120.6

 

11/02/62 16:00 26.6 long 120.6 lat. Tornado at Wiluna.

 26/6/62 16:00. Tornado near Mt Barker. This was rated as an F-0. 34.6 117.7

26/6/63 11:00 Tornado in Mandurah.

19/8/63 23:40 Tornado tears a path through the Perth suburbs of Scarborough, Doubleview and Innaloo.

10/12/63 9:15 A tornado passes through the town of Northam destroying 12 homes. It was rated as an F-1. 31.7 116.7

18/2/66 8:00 Tornado in Pingelly. 32.5 117.1

24/02/64 9:00. A tornado ripped through the small town of Perenjori destroying half of the buildings in the town. 29.4 116.3

11/6/64 4:00 Tornado in Fremantle. 32.1 115.8

15/6/64 4:20 Tornado in Carrolup. 33.8 117.4

Mandurah Tornado which occurred on June 15th 1964.

This was a waterspout turned tornado. It did extensive damage. One interesting point is that some iron sucked up by the tornado was found about 10k's away in the opposite direction to which the storm was traveling. Indicating some upper level action. The track was180m wide and it was on the ground for 10 min. 32.5 115.7

10/7/64 4:00 A tornado swept past Busselton pulling a car off the road killing the driver. The newspaper reported it as just a car accident. 33.7 115.3

18/2/66 8:30 Half an hour later another tornado was reported at Merredin. 31.5 118.1

26/8/66 3:50 Weak tornado at Mandurah. 32.5 115.7

30/1/67 4:00 A fairly severe tornado passed through Balingup. There are photos of iron sheets speared in to the ground and trees. The tornado was on the ground for 30min.

2/4/67 2:30 A waterspout was observed over Fremantle. 32.1 115.8

9/5/67 16:35 Tornado at Brunswick. 33.3 115.8

11/6/67 13:30 A tornado did extensive damage passing though the Perth suburbs of Scarborough, Double view and woodlands. 31.6 115.8

25/6/67 15:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Myaree

19/7/67 4:40 A tornado passed through the Perth suburbs of Hamilton Hill and Hilton. 32 115.9

1/9/67 11:00 A tornado left a path 80m wide near Harvey. 33.1 l 115.9

8/10/67 9:30 A waterspout was observed near Yallingup. 33.7 115

5/12/67 11:10 Tornado NE of Bunbury. 33.3 115.6

8/6/68 8:10 A short but severe tornado ripped through the naval base in a southern suburb of Perth.

12/7/68 2:10 Tornado in the Perth suburb of White Gum Valley. 32.1 115.8

9/9/68 19:20 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Kewdale. The track was only 1.2 k's long and 40m wide but it damaged 30 houses. 32 116

10/9/68 3:20 A tornado in the Perth suburb of Rivervale.

8/4/69 4:00 Tornado in the town of Karridale. 34.3 115.1

13/6/69 11:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Swanbourne.

13/6/69 Shortly after above tornado another tornado occurred in the suburb of Peppermint Grove.

26/7/69 19:20 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Wembley Downs.

31/5/70 6:30 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Manning.

31/5/70 Weak tornado in Mandurah.

17/6/70 8:00 Three tornadoes were record on this day. The first at Muchea.

17/6/70 Another at Chittering Valley.

17/6/70 And then one near Pinjarra.

22/6/70 7:00 Three more tornadoes were recorded on this day. The first at Bunbury 33.6 115.5

22/6/70 8:15 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Safety Bay.

22/6/70 9:30 Tornado at Ledge Point north of Perth.

27/6/70 6:30 A tornado tore up the golf course in Manjimup. 34.3 116.1

27/6/70 14:30 Later the same day a tornado was seen near Duranillin.

18/9/71 17:00 Tornado passed through the Perth suburbs of Claremont and Nedlands.

18/9/71 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Greenmount.

12/5/72 23:10 A tornado pulled a car off the road and flipped it over near Goomalling. It left a track 700m wide. It was rated as an F-2. 31.2 116.8

16/6/72 14:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Armadale damaged 8 homes and left a track 7 k's long by 200m wide, an F-1.

10/9/73 4:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Canning Vale and Shelley.

10/9/73 Tornado in the Perth suburb of White Gum Valley.

15/9/73 1:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Rossmoyne.

16/7/75 22:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Armadale.

28/7/75 9:00 A tornado passed near Dwellingup. The track was 5.9 kilometers long and 150m wide. 32.7 116.1

17/12/75 8:30 A spectacular tornado with a purple funnel was on the ground right in front of the weather bureau in Port Headland. A scanned image is here. 20.4 118.6

4/8/76 3:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Bedford.

4/8/76 3:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Yokine.

4/8/76 6:00 Tornado at Piawaning 30.84 116.38

 Northam Tornado which occurred on December 21st 1977.

Click here to see several photos of one of if not the best tornado ever photographed. This was due to the red dust on the ground against an eerie greeny blue sky. Again this tornado was formed by a trough deepening down the coast which is typical to summer tornadoes in WA. Surface winds were converging around the town at the time. It was 40 degrees with a westerly jet stream at 15 k's high. This was one of the first tornadoes to reveal concentric shells, five in fact. It was rated as an F-3 tornado, so it was no baby. The only real damage was done to trees.

24/7/78 18:00 Tornado in the Perth suburbs of Padbury, Duncraig, Hillarys and Mullalo.

24/7/78 18:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Kewdale.

21/1/79 7:30 Tornado passed through the town of Northam destroying one house. 31.7 116.1

Safety Bay Tornado which occurred on June 21st 1980.

This tornado was an early bird and formed at 10am. Over 40 homes had major damage and 60 others with minor damage. After it had finished on the land it crossed over to the water as a waterspout in which a spray went up about one kilometer high.

15/7/80 10:00 Tornado in the Mandurah suburb of Falcon

17/7/81 6:30 Tornado in the Perth suburbs of Alfred Cove and Myaree.

21/7/81 16:00 Tornado in the Perth suburbs of Sorrento, Warrick and Duncraig.

6/8/81 23:15 Tornado in the Perth suburbs of Hillman and Shoalwater Bay.

11/11/81 8:00 Tornado left a track of 8 kilometers at Cunderdin. 31.6 117.3

8/6/82 18:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Shoalwater Bay. 32.3 115.76

29/11/82 6:00 Tornado at Balladonia. 32.46 123.86

11/8/83 23:00 Tornado at Bunbury

22//8/83 13:45 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Fremantle. 32.1 115.8

3/9/83 8:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Scarborough. This Tornado also passed through other suburbs causing over 1 million dollars damage.

26/8/85 18:00 Tornado in the Perth suburbs of Girrawheen, Mirrabooka and Noranda.

21/8/86 5:00 Tornado in the Perth suburb of Rockingham. It left a short track of only 400m. 32.3 115.8

9/11/86 8:13 Tornado a Forrest. 30.8 128.1

7/4/87 8:00 Tornado at Boddington and Quindanning.

7/4/87 9:00 A tornado left a track 2 kilometers by 100m near Nth Walpole. 35 116.7

12/8/87 3:00 Tornado in Mandurah. The track was 3 kilometers by 50m. 32.5 115.7

10/6/88 23:30 Tornado in Williams.

31/7/89 16:00 Tornado near Pindathuna. 28.06 116.5

2/8/89 8:30 Tornado near Pinjarra 32.6 115.9

11/3/93 8:00 Tornado at Twin Peaks. 27.39 115.96

3/9/93 11:15 Tornado at Prevally Park near Margaret River. It destroyed one house. 34 115.1

6/9/93 1:40 Tornado at Connelly. 31.7 115.7

22/9/93 9:00 Two large F-3 tornadoes tear through Mandurah. I have a large article on this tornado on the way. 32.52 115.75

22/5/94 6:30 Tornado in Perth 32.15 116.05

28/5/94 23:50 till 12:40 An F-1 tornado left a track 19.6 kilometer long by 50m wide near Quellinton. 31.75 116.8

28/5/94 22:40 Another F-1 tornado passed near Bindoon leaving a track length of 15.5 kilometers by 300m wide.

28/5/94 22:50 Another F-1 tornado tore through Donnybrook. The track was 330m by 50m. 33 114.59

29/5/94 2:00 Tornado near Kalgun 34.8 118

8/6/94 Small Tornado in Fremantle.

25/6/94 Tornado near Mt Barker

7/7/94 Minor Tornado damage in Mandurah.

7/7/94 Tornado near Wellington Mill.

7/7/94 Tornado damage to trees and buildings along a 84km track near Boyup Brook.

17/12/94 8:20 Tornado near Carnamah. The track was 800m by 40m. 29.57 116.06

24/12/94 Tornado reported near Boyup Brook.

27/1/95 10:50 A supercell near Frankland spawned an F-1 tornado. 34.37 117

24/2/95 8:30 Tornado at Port Headland. The track was 8 kilometers by 10m wide. 20.31 118.6

28/4/95 2:00 Tornado near Oglive. 28.16 114.65

23/5/95 3:50 Tornado in Perth. Track length was 4 kilometers by100m wide. 31.935 115.786

8/6/95 11:30 Tornado in Perth. Track was 3.5kilometers by 50m wide. 32.054 115.745

4/7/95 19:20 Tornado at Mt Barker. 34.694 117.534

7/7/95 12:43 Tornado in Mandurah. The track was 10 kilometers by 60m wide. 33.495 115.86

7/7/95 13:30 A large F-2 tornado left a track 8.4 kilometers by 300m wide near Mayanup. 33.89 116.191

7/7/95 15:30 Tornado in Mandurah. A small track of 1 kilometer by 20m wide. 32.517 115.728

7/7/95 7:30 Tornado at Kataning. It left a track length of 15 kilometers by 100m wide. 33.722 117.675

7/7/95 Tornado near Merredin. It brought down the main power lines from Perth to Kalgoolie. The track was 6.2 kilometers by 120m wide. 31.44 118.52

7/7/95 9:45 Tornado near Dornock. The track was 15 kilometers by 60m wide. 32.783 118.432

8/7/95 10:45 Tornado in Perth. Track length was 150m by 10m. 31.827 115.7722

24/7/95 12:50 A Tornado damaged roofs and trees in the Perth suburb of Duncraig. This left a track of 3kiolmeter by 30m wide. 31.85 115.75

24/12/95 Tornado at Boyup Brook

28/3/96 9:00 A waterspout was seen off the Abrolos islands. 28.2 113.6

18/4/96 Tornado near Merredin

21/6/96 Tornado near Dwellingup.

27/6/96 A weak Tornado caused roof and tree damage in the Perth suburb of MT Claremont.

15/6/96 An F-0 / F-1 tornado tore through kings park and South Perth doing extensive damage.

15/7/96 Tornado in Mandurah.

 12/9/1997 Four Tornadoes, three from the same storm.

Gnagarra pine forest. Extensive damage to pine forest. Track was 3k's long and about 100m wide although the width does change. F-1

Chidlow. Small damage to bush F-0

South of York. Track was in a SSE direction and about 1k long and 200m wide. F-0

Ravensthorpe. This tornado was witnessed by the guy who saw and photographed the Northam tornado. F-0?

9/03/98 Tornado near Boyup Brook. This tornado flipped a semi tralier on its side and did extensive damage to bushland. F-1

17/04/98 A small Tornado was witnessed by myself near Toodyay.