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Sydney weather: City, eastern NSW warned to brace for 'vigorous' winds as flights hit

Peter Hannam

Cyclonic-strength wind gusts have hammered Sydney and most of eastern NSW, disrupting air travel and stranding trains on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Winds on Sydney Harbour were recorded at 106km/h just after 11.30am, the strongest so far in the Sydney area on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. 

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Winds damage houses in Sydney surrounds

Gale-force winds are causing chaos with flights delayed and power blackouts.

Northbound trains were stuck on the Sydney Harbour Bridge - on the stretch between Wynyard and Milsons Point - as work crews made urgent repairs, the Transport Management Centre said. 

One person contacted Fairfax Media to say the trains halted after winds "broke part of the boardwalk which impacted a train".

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The repairs have now been completed and trains on the line have resumed although passengers can expect delays during the afternoon, a spokesman for the centre said.

A separate incident blocked one of the two northbound lanes in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel but traffic has now returned to normal, LiveTrafficNSW said.

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Elsewhere, the service was reporting Clarence Street in the CBD has been closed between Erskine and Margaret streets "as a piece of roof has come off a building". Avoid the area, it said.

Air travel woes

Air traffic has been disrupted since the morning with a number of flights cancelled.

Sydney Airport said other flights could be delayed 60-90 minutes through the day, and passengers are advised to check with their carriers.

Meanwhile, baggage problems are adding to the air travel chaos:

Power cuts

Emergency crews were also out battling winds to restore electricity to hundreds of homes and businesses. Areas affected by outages include Bundeena and Oyster Bay in Sydney's south. 

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for an area stretching from the north of Newcastle down to the Victorian border, and for a region between Scone and Taree. (See warning chart below.)

"The gusts will bring down trees and large branches, and have already done so," Brett Dutschke, a senior Weatherzone meteorologist, said.

The winds should strengthen during the morning and reach a peak in excess of 90km/h by between 10am and 2pm on Friday, he said.

Sustained "vigorous" winds will be about 60-70km/h, the bureau said. A bureau warning for hazardous surf has also been issued for the entire coast for Friday, with similar conditions expected on Saturday.

"It's going to be windy for the next couple of days," Mr Dutschke said, adding that the conditions on Friday were likely to be more severe than on the weekend.

The source of the winds is a strong low pressure system that is now in the southern Tasman Sea. It has generated a couple of strong cold fronts across southern Australian in recent days.

Winds reached 102 km/h at Bellambi just after 11 am, and at Kurnell an hour later.

Sydney Airport, meanwhile, has had gusts of 100km/h just after 1.30 pm. The wild weather has prompted delays or cancellations to both domestic and international flights with only one of the two main runways reportedly in use.

Passengers are being encouraged to check with airlines.

Ausgrid was another firm taking to social media to alert customers of weather impacts.

For now, many of the homes affected by power cuts are located in areas south of Sydney:

Strongest in a year

The most recent winds this strong to hit Sydney were recorded on June 4 last year, with 117 km/h, the bureau said. 

NSW's strongest wind gust on record was notched during the December 16, 2015, tornado that touched down in Kurnell with gusts reaching 213 km/h. Category One cyclones carry sustained winds of more than 100km/h.

Elsewhere, traffic was disrupted in Wollongong after the winds ripped the roof off a building, while west of Newcastle the Rural Fire Service were tackling a fire near Seahampton.

Friday's fierce winds are expected to ease for most areas by Saturday, though the strong winds will persist along the coastal fringe until Saturday night, the bureau said.

Blizzards are also likely over the Alps above 1400 metres, the bureau said. "The National Parks Service of NSW recommends that people consider postponing back country travel until conditions improve," it said in a statement.

Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.

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