Weather across Africa

Outback travellers stunned by 'white Christmas' hailstorm

Outback travellers stunned by 'white Christmas' hailstorm

Hail, dust and thunderstorms have swept across WA's interior, leaving thousands without power and the landscape looking like a "white Christmas".

Wild storms have left thousands of homes and businesses without power across WA's Midwest, Wheatbelt and Goldfields.

In Mount Magnet, an intense hailstorm left the outback landscape looking like it had snowed.

The WA Bureau of Meteorology says storms will continue across parts of WA over the coming days.

Thousands of homes and businesses have lost power and parts of the landscape have been transformed by hail as wild weather sweeps across Western Australia's remote interior.

The weather began in WA's Midwest, Pilbara and Goldfields late yesterday, impacting communities across thousands of kilometres.

About 15,000 homes and businesses across Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Merredin, Kondinin and surrounding communities remained without power after a fault in the 600-kilometre feeder line supplying the region.

Station caretaker Kez Mac was driving north of Mount Magnet, about 560km north-east of Perth, when the hail began striking her vehicle.

"Hail just literally covered the ground, to the point it was as if we were going to have a white Christmas," she said.

"Outside it was all white, trees have all been stripped. It was red rock and white ground."

Ms Mac said she had never seen anything like it in her time living in the region, with the approaching hail storm seemingly indistinguishable from a regular rain event.

In brief

Wild storms have left thousands of homes and businesses without power across WA's Midwest, Wheatbelt and Goldfields. Thousands of homes and businesses have lost power and parts of the landscape have been transformed by hail as wild weather sweeps across Western Australia's remote interior. The weather began in WA's Midwest, Pilbara and Goldfields late yesterday, impacting communities across thousands of kilometres.

This is the opening of the story, shared with credit to ABC News Australia. The rest of the report — with every detail — continues on the publisher’s website.

Continue reading at ABC News Australia ↗

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