Tornado hits WA's Great Southern region as wet weather forecast for the week

Tornado in WA as severe thunderstorms hit state's south

The moment a tornado touched down in Western Australia has been captured on camera after severe thunderstorms hit the state's south.

Footage showed the weather phenomenon crossing paddocks near Lake Grace, about 320 kilometres south-east of Perth over the weekend.

The vision was captured in Beenong by Kristian Chatfield on Sunday as weather bureaus issued a severe weather warning for much of southern WA.

Mr Chatfield said it was an awesome sight.

"I've seen the damage before but never the actual thing," he said.

"It blew branches at least 50 metres into the paddocks from where the trees were."

The Lake Grace tornado uprooted trees and threw branches up to 50 metres away. (Supplied: Kristian Chatfield)

BOM confirms tornado sighting

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angeline Prasad said the region experienced plenty of thunderstorm activity over the weekend. 

"There was one cell in particular that looked very intense, so I'm not surprised that a tornado was reported," Ms Prasad said. 

"These thunderstorm cells are normally called super cells and the winds associated with these tornadoes can be quite ferocious."

The bureau's website said tornadoes were more common in Australia than expected with "dozens of sightings each year".

"Many more may occur in remote areas and hence are unreported," it said. 

"Many of the stronger tornadoes in Australia are associated with a type of thunderstorm known as a supercell."

Wet weather is expected to continue throughout the region this week.

ABC reporter recalls the devastating Bunbury tornado that destroyed the newsroom in 2005.