Residents across southern Western Australia are celebrating the first proper rainfall of the year, as storms buffeted the region.

The strong cold front passed across the region overnight on Tuesday and well into Wednesday morning.

Heavy falls were reported in Bunbury (73mm), Brookdale Siding (52mm),  Dardanup (51mm), and Samson Brook (41mm). 

Storm warnings were issued for the Perth, South West, Lower West, and Great Southern with the system expected to move eastwards throughout the day.

The State Emergency Service had responded to 170 calls for assistance as of 11am on Wednesday.

Just weeks after a freak tornado struck Bunbury, residents in Dunsborough were gifted a much less threatening sight with a spectacular waterspout forming off the coast.

While local James O'Byrne snapped a shot from a safe distance, his wife Toni was much closer.

"I ran to tell the girls to put the horses away and take cover," she said.

Weather Bureau meteorologist Jessica Lingard said the spouts formed in the same way as tornadoes.

"They're a lot more beautiful to look and a lot less destructive," Ms Lingard said.

"Usually we don't see waterspouts keeping themselves together for very long, but they can cross the coast."

While the rain was lighter north of Perth, strong winds and other heavy weather was still in play.

In Goomalling, hail transformed much of the landscape into a winter wonderland.

Ms Lingard said the stormy conditions would begin to ease later on Wednesday before picking up again later in the week.

"We'll have a quieter day tomorrow; there'll be some showers but we're not expecting big totals," she said.

"We do have a new front coming on the weekend, which looks to be even better than this one has been.

"Across the weekend we could be looking at anywhere from 20 to 60mm or even more of rainfall."