SW summer was hotter, wetter

Bunbury's summer was hotter and wetter than the long-term average and the heat is expected to continue into autumn.

Both the average maximum and minimum temperatures through December to February were about half a degree above average and there was almost 20mm more rain than a typical summer.

Summer finished with two temperature extremities as February 27 reached 35.4C before dropping to 24.3C on the February 29 leap day.

This was not enough to deter adventurers from enjoying Bunbury's beaches.

Long-time hang glider Mike Farren, who is also a member of the Hang Gliders Association of WA, was among those taking advantage of the weather along Back Beach, where he said an impending cold front would help.

"A few people had taken the day off work and travelled from Perth because we knew the conditions would be good," he said.

"Bunbury is a very consistent place to fly and you can also land where you take off in Bunbury which is a great sensation."

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted a 78 per cent chance of maximum temperatures exceeding Bunbury's autumn average of 24.4C and a 90 per cent chance of minimums being higher than the 12.9C average.

Bunbury's average maximum temperature during summer was 29.5C, higher than the long-term average of 29.1C established since BoM's Carey Park site began operation in 1995.

This was helped by two weeks last month when 13 of the 14 days had maximums above 30C.

Summer's hottest day was 40C on February 8 while the coldest was January 31 when the maximum only reached 21.1C.

Summer's average minimum was 15.5C which exceeded the long-term average of 15C.

January 8 had the highest minimum of the summer with 25.4C while February 1 was the coldest night with a minimum of 7C.

Two successive days of heavy January rain helped push the summer total to 54.2mm.

It exceeded the average of 35.7mm and was also the wettest summer since 2012-13.

January 20 had 21.6mm of rain and January 21 had another 16.6mm.