Large parts of coastal New South Wales are braced for a weekend of wild weather similar to the coastal low that struck the state earlier this month, according to Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.
A low system forming off the north coast of NSW could bring widespread rain and strong winds from the Hunter region across Sydney to the Illawarra, beginning on Friday night and into Saturday.
Sydney residents woke up to a wet Wednesday, with cold temperatures and widespread areas of rain expected around central and eastern NSW. The rain is expected to continue for days before the low is forecast to develop and rapidly deepen, bringing rain and driving large waves into coastal areas.
The BoM meteorologist Jiwon Park said it was still too early to say which areas could be worst hit or how bad the weather could get.
But such systems typically bring “impactful weather in terms of the wind and the rain and surf conditions”, Park said. Moderate to heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding in some areas, he said.
“We may well be issuing severe weather warnings for heavy rain, damaging winds and hazardous coastal conditions”, BoM senior meteorologist Christie Johnson added in a briefing on Wednesday morning. “This is a dynamic weather event; forecasts are likely to change before the weekend as we get more information about the position of that low.”
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) on Tuesday warned residents to be prepared for extreme weather and heavy rainfall. Daily rain totalling 50-100mm could hit parts of the Hunter, the Central Coast and Sydney metro area.
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Nicole Hogan, the assistant commissioner of the SES, urged residents to monitor weather alerts and prepare a response plan should they be affected by severe weather.
“That means planning what you will do and where you will go if you are impacted by severe weather,” Hogan said.
“We ask everyone to stay informed by downloading the Hazards Near Me app and setting up a watch zone for their area, so you are alerted with the latest warnings and advice.”
Hogan noted that many catchments across the state were still wet from recent weather events and may respond “quickly” to rainfall, creating dangerous situations.
“Flash flooding and renewed river rises are possible with the forecast rainfall,” she said.
Park said models showed a peak period of rainfall on Saturday with damaging winds up to 60km/h and gale-force gusts up to 90km/h along the coastal fringes.
As soon as the low-pressure system makes landfall, the bureau forecast a secondary low-pressure system would head towards the north coast of NSW on Sunday. That system was forecast to affect areas north of Port Macquarie or Nambucca Heads, although Park said the main risks on Sunday would be strong winds and intense surf with the potential for coastal erosion.
“The high-impact areas may be subjected to change, as we get a clearer idea of what this system will do toward the weekend,” Park said. “There is a potential for such an event and that’s why SES has issued these warnings pre-emptively.”
The BoM was also warning snow was possible above 1,000 metres in the central and northern ranges in the coming days due to the low-pressure system. NSW SES officials said those conditions could cause some disruptions to transport routes due to icy roads outside the usual alpine regions.
A powerful storm pummelled parts of NSW earlier this month, leaving tens of thousands without power, and the SES responded to more than 1,300 calls in a 24-hour period.
