Past few days surpass rain predictions in Sydney

Sydney saw plenty of rain over the weekend and today. Rain had been forecast as part of a low pressure system that moved south from inland Queensland during Friday and Saturday, and final totals ended up surpassing predictions. In addition to the rain, today saw some very strong winds.

The first rain arrived a bit before 5:30pm on Saturday, slowly moving south through the city. By midnight a total of 14.2mm had been recorded at Sydney Airport. It rained almost continuously from 5:30pm on Saturday until midday Sunday. Yesterday managed to accumulate more than double Saturday's figure, a total of 31.0mm.

A subsequent 16 hour break in the rain was ended around 5am this morning. By that point, the low pressure system had moved off the coast and was pushing wind and rain in a northerly direction. A few showers preceded a heavier concentration of rain, and the hours between 6:30am and 9am accounted for 25mm. An additional 23mm fell during the rest of the day, taking the daily total to 48.6mm, the second highest of the year.

Rain totals across Sydney between August 16 and 18
Source: Bureau of Meteorology (image edited from original found here)

After a relatively calm day yesterday, when the strongest gust at the Airport was an easterly at 43km/h, the strong winds that were predicted finally arrived this morning. It was a rather wild morning for Sydney. In the midst of some of the heaviest rain of the past few days, winds increased suddenly at 7:52am at the Airport. A 41km/h west-northwesterly gust was recorded then. Winds quickly turned southerly and increased in strength. At 9:30am the average speed over 10 minutes was 70km/h, with a strongest gust at 89km/h. This was the second highest recording of the year. Wind gusts over 60km/h were experienced throughout the day.

Wind gusts were strong up and down the New South Wales coast. The weather station at Wattamolla Beach, about 30km to the city's south, recorded a strongest gust of 122km/h at 9:37am. Gusts above 100km/h were seen there throughout today.

Rain and strong winds eased slightly early this evening. More rain however is falling already in the early hours of August 19. Some heavy showers might continue into the late morning, while the rest of the week is likely to see showers also as temperatures stay below 20C.