NSW coast told to brace for possible ‘weather bomb’ this week as Sydney hit by month of rain in one day

A storm approaching Australia’s east coast is worsening so rapidly that meteorologists predict a month’s worth of rain will hit Sydney on Tuesday.

Weather experts have warned NSW residents to stay away from the coast during the next couple of days to avoid life-threatening risks, with damaging surf and winds exceeding 100km/h set to batter the state.

Sydney is expected to receive almost an entire month’s worth of rain on Tuesday, with 75mm set to soak the city.

Bureau of Meteorology officials have also put urgent warnings in place for storm force winds and severe weather along the NSW coastline from Byron Bay down to Eden.

The Bureau has in place a marine winds warning for NSW, a storm force winds caution for Sydney and Illawarra, a gale force winds warning for Sydney, Lake Macquarie and Hunter regions, a strong winds alert for the Byron and Coffs coasts, as well as a damaging surf warning from The Entrance on the Central Coast down to Moruya on the south coast.

There are also fears of flooding for inland NSW, on the other side of the Great Dividing Range.

Duty meteorologist Hugh McDowell warned Sydney was in for a wet day.

“Around Sydney we've seen a peak of 25mm so far (already on Tuesday), and down the south coast peaks of 55mm,” he told NCA NewsWire.

“We are expecting today could see, across the Sydney region, 75mm of rain; it is quite a lot and it is almost a month‘s worth of rain in one day.

“All NSW residents should keep an eye on all the warnings, follow advice from emergency services and if you don't need to be near the coast, then don’t as damaging surf and damaging winds make it a risk to life if you're near the coast.”

The warnings come as NSW heads into a “weather bomb”, with a low-pressure system continuing to deepen at an unusually rapid pace.

“Sydney and the adjacent Central Coast and Illawarra regions can expect the worst of the weather from this system,” Sky News Australia chief meteorologist Tom Saunders said on Monday.

Huge waves are expected on the NSW coast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Mr Saunders said the waves could get whipped up more than eight metres tall, while the Bureau of Meteorology predicted waves bigger than five metres.

“Significant wave heights could reach in excess of five metres for much of the southern and central NSW coast, including Sydney,” BOM meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.

She said there was a risk the swell could cause “significant” coastal erosion.

Sydney could see up to 70mm of rain. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

On Monday night, the situation had deteriorated to the point that the BOM issued a severe weather warning for Sydney, the Illawarra and the south coast, urging people to stay away from the surf and to move their parked cars out from under trees.

By Tuesday afternoon, it is forecast winds will blow nearly 100 km/h – faster than a Learner driver is allowed to drive – and the gustiest part of the coast will be between Newcastle and Moruya near Batemans Bay.

Sydney looked likely to be hit by the storm. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Parts of that area could get up to 90mm, the BoM said.

While Monday was a relatively warm day with temperatures of up to 27C, those are set to plummet on Tuesday by as much as 12 degrees as the bad weather hits.

The weather system should move along by the end of Wednesday.

Originally published as NSW coast told to brace for possible ‘weather bomb’ this week as Sydney hit by month of rain in one day