World News – UA – Severe thunderstorm warning issued for Sydney, Canberra

Heavy rain hit parts of Sydney and New South Wales as the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe storm warning on Saturday

Large, possibly giant, hailstones are also expected to hit southern Sydney suburbs, extending to the Greater Wollongong area on Saturday afternoon

« Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rains which could lead to flash flooding, damaging winds and large hailstones over the next few hours, » the bureau said in the warning, released at 12 noon.30h

Localities likely to be affected are Lismore, Grafton, Coffs Harbor, Port Macquarie, Taree, Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Orange, Canberra, Goulburn, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga He also put warning against the potential for large hailstones

At 115 a.m., the office warned that severe thunderstorms, moving east, had been detected on weather radar near Sutherland, Sydney Airport and Campbelltown

Bureau of Meteorology issues severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Sydney and areas of Greater Wollongong Credit: Bureau of Meteorology

The storm is expected to bring large, possibly giant hailstones and heavy rains that could lead to flash flooding and damaging winds, the office warned

Prestons, in southwest Sydney, was hit by heavy rain before noon, leading to the closure of a drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic

Between 930 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ulladulla recorded 1089 millimeters of rain, while Moruya received 73 millimeters in three hours at 1050 a.m.

The Jonathan How meteorological office said in an update on Friday it would be « a rainy and stormy start to the weekend for New South Wales, eastern Queensland and eastern Victoria, and conditions could turn dangerous again, with another round of severe thunderstorms on Saturday « 

« Sydney, Illawarra and Canberra could see significant [rain] totals, and there is a risk of flooding, » he said

Thunderstorm, Bureau of Meteorology, hail, Queensland, severe thunderstorm warning