On the northwest coast these storms are called Willy Willies. It has a climate that can best be described as warm-temperate with no real cold season, warm to hot summers and a good distribution of rainfall throughout the year. The weather can be changeable throughout the year and the summers are liable to prolonged heat waves and droughts. Cold spells are brief and never severe on the coast. The area around Spencer Gulf in South Australia, parts of Western Victoria and the southwestern part of Western Australia are distinctive in having a Mediterranean type of climate.
Rainfall is moderate and falls mainly in the winter.
Summers are warm to hot with an almost complete drought, whilst the winter gets very changeable weather associated with cyclonic disturbances. Perth and Adelaide represent the wetter parts of the two districts, and the mildness of the winter is mirrored by the fact that an air frost has never been recorded at either location. The Desert and semi-arid region is the most extensive climatic region of Australia, including part of every mainland state except Victoria. Rainfall everywhere is scanty and unreliable, and the cool season rainfall of the south is much more effective than the hot season rainfall of the tropical north. Like most continental interiors there is a considerable daily and seasonal change of temperature.