Weather News

Sydney got busted!

Tristan Meyers, Sunday March 1, 2015 - 18:11 AEDT

A messy southerly buster thrashed Sydney today, bringing gusty winds and lighting up the skies with over 10 000 lighting strikes detected within 40km of the city.

Today began as what felt like an ideal summer day; there was little cloud about and temperatures rose to the mid-30s across Sydney. In fact it was the warmest March day in 11 years.

Many keen residents flocked to the beach for a morning dip before beginning their day. However, as a strong cold front tracked up the New South Wales coast, cloud began building over the city. The buster hit Sydney by 3:30pm, marked by a distinctive roll cloud looming overhead.

Temperatures dropped 14 degrees in just 45 minutes at the airport. Winds gusted up to 109 km/h at Cronulla, while residents at Campbelltown felt the change with gusts peaking at 102 km/h.

While rainfall totals weren't anything record breaking, a few places had some brief, heavy showers. Canterbury, Campbelltown and Mascot all saw over 5mm fall in just 10 minutes.

As conditions now begin to ease for Sydney, the line of gusty thunderstorms is continuing to move up the coast, towards the Hunter region. Residents should head the latest warnings, available here:

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp?lt=wzstate&lc=nsw

- Weatherzone

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