
Showers and grey skies are expected to hang over Newcastle and the parts of the Hunter well into the next week.
A blistering and bright Australia Day quickly gave way to rain and wind for the remainder of the week to Saturday, and the forecast looks similarly drizzly with between one and 10 millimetres predicted daily for much of the week.
Around 43 millimetres of rain fell over Newcastle on Thursday, followed by another 17.6 millimetres on Friday, and misting showers around 2.4 millimetres before midday on Saturday.
A low pressure system moving south of Tasmania has extended a trough of low pressure across the west of NSW resulting in east to northeasterly winds over coastal waters. The trough is forecast to move across southern and central parts of the coast during the weekend, bringing a southerly wind change in the wake.
The swell will rise between one and 1.5 metres for the beginning of the week, with early north to northeasterly winds between 15 and 25 knots (between 28 and 37 kilometres per hour), changing in the afternoons.
Forecasters for the Bureau of Meteorology said the warm, grey conditions are likely to hang around as Newcastle experiences the tail end of the tough, moving slowly to the south coupled with a damp coastal breeze.
The chance of a late afternoon thunderstorm on Saturday and light winds between 15 and 20 kilometres per hour in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late afternoon.
The weekend was expected to be the warmest part of the week, with maximums between 27 and 29 degrees for the next few days ahead following Saturday's top of 30 degrees.
For faster access to the latest Newcastle news download our NEWCASTLE HERALD APP and sign up for breaking news, sport and what's on sent directly to your email.