A freak thunderstorm has swept across Sydney bringing strong wind gusts and heavy rain as the temperature plummeted by more than 10 degrees in an hour.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the severe thunderstorm is generating gusty winds across Sydney from the west to the east.
An 85 km/h wind gust was recorded at Richmond Airport while an 82 km/h gust hit Sydney Airport.
The latest data shows 22 millimetres of rain has fallen in just an hour in Sydney at Observatory Hill.
”A trough is generating gusty, fast-moving thunderstorms over parts of NSW,” the bureau said.
Sydneysiders had wind and rain lashing their homes with some people saying it looked like the rain was falling sideways.
At 9am, Sydney reported temperatures above 32 degrees but just two hours later it was 19 degrees.
Thunderstorms are forecast to hit from Newcastle to Moree and west to Dubbo today.
As quickly as the storm swept through the city it swiftly dissipated with temperatures beginning to climb again just 20 minutes later.
Unpredictable conditions are forecast for the rest of the day as the trough continues to move east.
Although the storm was brief it has wreaked havoc across the city with trains on the T1 North Shore and Western line heavily delayed due to urgent repairs to damaged equipment at Milsons Point.
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The winds were so strong that a 50-metre-wide tin roof was ripped off a workshop in Mortdale, in Sydney’s south, and the remains were thrown into powerlines and scattered onto the road.
Fire and Rescue NSW said in Drummoyne a tree fell across the road blocking the Gladesville Bridge.
In Menai, in the city’s south, the rain was so heavy it caused floodwaters to submerge Alfords Point Road at Old Illawarra Road.
Motorists are warned not to drive across flooded roadways.
As Sydney basked in warm and sunny weather on Sunday a trough and cold front had begun to move east causing the sudden shift in weather on Monday.
Weatherzone said on Sunday as the cold front moves through it is mixing with the warmer air in front of it leading to the thunderstorm risk.
“Warm, moist air being drawn into the region east of the trough will enhance convective activity along the trough,” the forecaster said yesterday.
“This environment is conducive to producing widespread, possibly severe thunderstorms across QLD and northern NSW.”
Sydney skies darkened, a warning of the sudden storm to come
