Sydney Hit with Intense Rain and Storms on Friday

Sydney experienced a sudden and dramatic change in weather on Friday afternoon, with a storm front moving rapidly across the NSW coastline, bringing heavy gusts, hail, and power outages to large parts of the state. The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm warnings for several regions, including Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and the Central Tablelands. The storm brought intense rain, with the highest rainfall recorded at Cronulla South Bowling Club, which received 9 millimeters in one hour.

Key Takeaways:

• The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm warnings for several regions, including Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and the Central Tablelands.
• Temperatures dropped from a high of 31 degrees to the mid-20s by the early afternoon, with a 10-degree drop in just 30 minutes.
• The city's highest rainfall was recorded at Cronulla South Bowling Club, which copped 9 millimeters in the hour before 5:15 pm.
• Power outages and damage to trees, roofs, and fences were possible due to the strong winds.
• The main hazards of these thunderstorms were large hailstones bigger than two centimeters across, which can damage crops, cars, and roofs, and damaging wind gusts of over 90km/h.
• The Bureau also issued a marine wind warning for strong winds around Sydney Harbour and along the coast from Eden to the Port Macquarie area.
• The stormy weather was expected to continue further north "well into the night and possibly into tomorrow morning."
• Meteorologist Angus Hines said Friday would be the "peak day" for Sydney's severe weather, with some storminess expected for the state's coastline on Saturday, but the most extreme conditions would transfer to northern NSW and South East Queensland over the weekend.

Statistics:

• 9 millimeters: the highest rainfall recorded during the storm at Cronulla South Bowling Club.
• 31 degrees: the high temperature before the storm hit.
• 10 degrees: the temperature drop in just 30 minutes.
• 90km/h: the speed of the damaging wind gusts expected.
• 32 degrees: the forecast temperature in the Sydney CBD on Friday.
• 34 degrees: the forecast temperature in the western suburbs on Friday.
• 5:15 pm: the time when the 9 millimeter rainfall was recorded.

Sources:

• The Sydney Morning Herald