Sydney's weather is likely to take a wild turn on Tuesday night, with heavy rainfall and strong gusts possible along coastal regions from the Victorian border northwards.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for the south and Illawarra coasts for damaging winds, with gale force winds forecast to reach more than 90 km/h. Wind speeds are already reaching 82 km/h on Gabo Island on Tuesday afternoon.
For Sydney, the "feels like" temperatures dropped to as low as 8.3 degrees in the late morning on Tuesday as winds shifted around to the south.
Those winds will likely strengthen and bring with them more showers by the evening. The bureau is predicting a few millimetres of rain for the remainder of Tuesday, and has lifted the forecast to 40-60 millimetres for Wednesday.
By 7pm on Tuesday, the chance of rain in the city is more 75 per cent, the bureau.
Debate swirls about the nature of the complex weather system and whether it will count as an east coast low.
Rob Sharpe, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said the likely result is that several small-scale lows will form off the coast over the coming 48 hours. "The worst of the impacts is likely to be fairly brief," .
Rainfall totals may approach triple figures along parts of the NSW coast during this week. pic.twitter.com/fvTSyIN0vd
— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) June 6, 2017
A larger single low will then likely form off the state's northeast coast, directing moist onshore winds for most of the coming week.
For Sydney that will mean a few showers each day but without the strong winds over the next couple of days, Mr Sharpe said.
Heavy surf is also likely for Tuesday and Wednesday, with the bureau issuing a marine wind warning for strong winds in Sydney's closed waters for those days. A gale warning, though, is in place from the Eden coast up to the Hunter.
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