Millions to be soaked as stormy front smashes NSW east coast

Up to 100mm of rain is expected in 24 hours across parts of NSW by the weekend. Photo / Getty Images

It will be a wet and stormy week for residents in Sydney and much of New South Wales as a deluge of rain smashes the state’s east coast, with 24-hour totals of up to 100mm predicted.

Sydney will bear the brunt of rain today, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting lashings of wet weather across the state’s east coast.

“The showers will continue to move across central NSW and, at the same time, subtle winds are going to start pushing cloud and further showers on to the coast,” senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said.

“This will result in widespread areas of rain around central and eastern NSW, including for the Sydney, the Hunter and the Illawarra.

“There’s even the risk of some thunderstorms along the coast or fringe.”

A low-pressure system is bringing a rainband that is slowly passing from South Australia to NSW, stretching across the state and expected to stick around for the remainder of the week.

The wet weather will first be felt in the northern and central regions, before shifting east and sticking around for several days.

Johnston said the coast was forecast to receive totals of 20mm, and 5-10mm on and west of the ranges.

“However, it will be a cold, overcast and wet day for Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle with a maximum of just 15 degrees for Sydney today,” she said.

It will also be a cold day for the rest of the state as cold southerly winds settle, with maximum temperatures dropping up to 5C below average.

“Cold southerly winds will increase through the day, so it feels like temperature will struggle to reach double digits in many areas,” she added.

The cold weather is expected to settle in on the NSW coast from today to Saturday, targeting the coastal fringe from Jervis Bay to Port Macquarie.

The brunt of the rain and icy temperatures will be felt in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.

Looking ahead, the soggy conditions will continue to smash the north, east and central regions, picking up speed tomorrow and Friday.

These conditions will begin to shift again by Saturday, moving to the eastern regions and bringing showers and damaging winds.

“A low pressure system is forecast to develop off the northern NSW coast on Saturday and rapidly deepen,” Johnston said.

“This low is likely to push rain, possible damaging winds and large waves onto the central and southern NSW coast, with showers also extending over the northern tablelands and even up into the Darling Downs [in Queensland].”

She warned Saturday could be “shaping up to be the wettest day of the outlook period”.

Sky Weather meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the 24-hour rainfalls on Saturday could be as high as 100mm in parts of the state.

However, Sydney, Wollongong, and Newcastle are forecast to see between 20-50mm of rainfall over the weekend.