![RAINFALL: Past occurrences of very wet Julys in Perth have set up heavy spring and summer rains in the eastern states. RAINFALL: Past occurrences of very wet Julys in Perth have set up heavy spring and summer rains in the eastern states.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/vHY76HvbmdzrEjnU6er3NK/806acf17-6fba-4bd6-95fa-e7faa7938a03.jpg/r0_0_668_999_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Perth has experienced its wettest July, with 271.4mm of rain.
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This is the highest total recorded since the 278.8mm received in 1995.
Past occurrences of very wet Julys in Perth, on most occasions, have set up heavy spring and summer rains in the eastern states and a high frequency of tropical cyclones, mainly in Queensland around Mackay in particular.
Mackay recently had one of its warmest July days on record, with a reading of 28.8 degrees on July 24.
A reading of 28.3 degrees in July 1917 led to the destructive cyclone of January 1918.
The end of July saw heat records for the month at Alice Springs, 31.8 degrees, and also at Charleville, 30.7.
Tennant Creek with 35.2 on July 30 was also a record for July - the previous hottest being in 1995, whilst Julia Creek, with 35.8, had its warmest July day since 1995.
The last half of August 1995 was notably warmer and drier than usual, with maxima reaching 24 degrees in North East Victoria up to near 33 in Southern Queensland.
The Southern Oscillation Index last month was plus 16 - the highest for July since the 20.5 in 2010.
- Peter Nelson
Alice Springs and Tennant Creek had high July temperatures in 1946 and again in August 1946.
The summer of 1946-47 was very warm and slightly wetter than average in Victoria and NSW, but a very deep tropical cyclone decimated the Gold Coast in late January 1947 during a heatwave in Victoria.
The Southern Oscillation Index last month was plus 16 - the highest for July since 20.5 in 2010.
Other Julys when the Southern Oscillation was above plus 15 were in 1975, 1955, 1950, 1917, 1916, and1910.
The 1975 event led to excessive spring rainfall in Victoria and also flooding rains in the northern region of NSW in both January and February 1976.
The 1955 event led to a very wet period from August 1955 right through to October 1956 in the eastern states.
The 1950 event saw floods in NSW during November 1950 and floods in Victoria in February 1951.
Both 1916 and1917 were very wet in Victoria and NSW, with both states experiencing flooding.
The 1910 event led to another very wet period from September 1910 to March 1911, right from Cairns all the way south to Tasmania, where the biggest floods ever recorded along the East Coast of Tasmania occurred in March 1911.
This month, March 1911, was also the wettest ever March recorded in Melbourne and some suburbs as well.