Sydney commuters have been told to expect thunderstorms and heavy rain during the afternoon and evening today, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning the rapidly evolving weather could cause flash flooding.
The heaviest showers and storms are expected during the commute home and into the evening across the eastern fringe of the city.
At 3:30pm, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Sydney and the Wollondilly and Wingecarribee areas, with heavy rainfall and large hailstones expected.
It said thunderstorms had been detected south-west of Sydney and were moving east.
They were forecast to affect Picton Camden, Cobbity and Oran Park by mid-afternoon.
So far Bankstown in the city’s south-west has recorded the heaviest falls, with 17 millimetres falling between 9:00am and 3:00pm.
Up to 60mm — almost half the city’s average rainfall for the month of March — is expected throughout the eastern Sydney basin today alone.
The NSW State Emergency Service said it had received 60 call-outs this afternoon across Sydney and Goulburn.
Most were to help those affected by flash flooding, as well as trees that had fallen across roads.
Loftus and Menai are among the suburbs most affected.
BOM’s Rosemary Barr said it was a rapidly evolving system with the potential for flash flooding.
“We could definitely see for isolated regions … flash flooding, and that’s something we’re concerned about, particularly with heavier thunderstorms coming across,” she said.
BOM is predicting showers will increase later this afternoon.
“These showers will deliver varying amounts [of rainfall] but we could see pretty heavy falls and particularly at isolated locations,” Ms Barr said.
“Currently our rainfall range on our forecast is sitting between around 20mm and 60mm, but those totals can vary very dramatically.
Sydney is forecast to receive between 15mm and 45mm on Friday, with a chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon.
On Saturday and Sunday there is a chance of showers, with up to 6mm of rain.
Although Sydney city only received 8mm yesterday, outer parts of the city — particularly the northern beaches region — received up to 50mm.
Observatory Hill, near The Rocks, recorded 111mm over the whole day, while Chatswood followed with 107mm.
The March average rainfall at Observatory Hill is 130.8mm, while the highest-ever total rainfall recorded was 521.4mm in 1942.
The lowest was 8.4mm in 1964.
In late November, Sydney was pummelled with a deluge that saw more than 90mm fall in 90 minutes, in what BOM described as a “one-in-100-year event”.
The weather system caused mass damage, with homes across the city flooded from flash flooding.with abcnews