Although southern cold fronts become shallow and diffuse as they move into northern Australia, they often trigger a surge in the strength of the easterlies and this, combined with their extreme dryness, creates a very high fire danger in the tropical savanna region. An active low pressure near Perth is 'cut off' from the southern westerlies. Situations of this type may cause rain and rather cold weather over southern parts of Western Australia. The general rule is that winds are strongest where the isobars are closest together. Thus the strongest winds are usually experienced near cold fronts, low pressure systems and in westerly airstreams south of the continent.
Winds are normally light near high pressure systems where the isobars are widely spaced.
However, because of a latitude effect, winds in middle latitudes are lighter than those in the tropics with similarly spaced isobars. The most destructive winds in Australia are generated by tropical cyclones. Features on the surface weather chart indicate likely rainfall patterns as well as temperature distribution and wind strength. While you can have cloud without rain, you cannot have rain without clouds. Clouds form by the condensation of water vapour through cooling.