No warning: Freak windstorm takes Canberra by surprise as major clean-up gets underway

About 500 Canberra homes remain without power and volunteer crews are still working to clean up after Friday's wind storm as of Sunday morning.

ActewAGL said the storm had caused "major damage" to its electricity network, bringing down power poles and damaging service cables at homes, affecting about 16,000 households on Friday.

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About 500 households were still without power, as of 9am Sunday, and it was still dealing with 189 incidents.

"Crews have continued to work through the night and have made great progress in repairing major damage to the electricity network," it said.

"Crews have repaired all significant damage that affected large parts of suburbs like in Aranda, Holt, Spence, Scullin and Yarralumla. The remaining work is focused on repairing individual premises' service cables and trees on powerlines that are affecting small areas within suburbs.

"Additional crews from Essential Energy have joined the team to assist with the effort and we thank them for their support."

ActewAGL also warned that some people could lose power for a period during the day while repairs were being completed.

ACT State Emergency Service acting chief officer Stephen Carter said the service had received more than 900 calls for help.

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A major clean up was underway on Saturday, with 20 crews out around the territory. They worked until midnight, before resuming on the remaining 75 jobs at 7am on Sunday.

A spokesperson said conditions no Sunday were better, with light winds expected. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a top of 31 degrees, slightly warmer than the top fof 29.7 degrees recorded on Saturday.

A sentimental tree Fran Bopping planted more than 40 years ago with her late husband ended up crashing into the front room of the woman's house in Macgregor in Friday's short but intense storm.

Mrs Bopping was driving home from Goulburn during the freak weather event and was shocked to see the trees felled in her suburb. It wasn't until she turned the corner into her street that she realised part of her home had been crushed by the old tree, which had snapped at the roots and came down on her front room.

"They've all got trees down, I thought 'How terrible for them'. Then I came around the corner and saw mine down," she said.

Mrs Bopping wasn't the only Canberran surprised by the ferocity of Friday's storm. 

Residents of the territory received no official warning the damaging winds, which left a trail of damage through the city and surrounds, were on the horizon.

Temperatures dropped nine degrees in nine minutes, trees were uprooted and homes damaged, while thousands were left without power.

After a scorching 39.6 degree day in the capital, the storm hit suddenly just after 4pm. The Bureau of Meteorology had not previously issued an extreme weather warning for the area.

"Although conditions were expected to be windy in Canberra, forecasters assessed that any damage would be confined to higher elevations and this was reflected in warnings issued," a bureau spokesperson told Fairfax Media.

"As the showers approached and moved over Canberra, none of the recorded measurements suggested winds strong enough to damage property."

Mrs Bopping

applauded the SES volunteers who worked late into the evening.

"They're doing a great job under great difficulty."

Mr Carter said the severity of damage would be assessed over the coming days.

"It's a significant number of jobs and it's had an impact on a significant number of people," he said of the storms.

The National Capital Authority reported damage across the Parliamentary Triangle with about 250 trees damaged or felled by the strong winds. A large tree fell on parts of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, however no one was injured. 

The spokeswoman said there was a "significant amount of debris" floating in Lake Burley Griffin and warned lake users to beware. Aspen Island was closed temporarily due to damage to trees, which were causing concerns for public safety. 

In Queanbeyan, a motorcyclist was transported to Queanbeyan hospital on Friday evening after a near miss with a falling tree.

A police spokesman said the rider swerved and fell off his bike after a tree fell on the road in front of him. He said the rider, who had minor injuries, was lucky to escape without serious harm.

Mr Carter said no other serious injuries had been reported.

Mr Carter said he expected most of the major storm clean-up would be completed over the weekend, but there could be ongoing work for those returning from holiday.

With Emily Baker and Bevan Shields