Sydney to cop wet and windy burst of winter

Sydney is in for some “pretty miserable” weather in coming days as a complex low off the coast brings strong gusts and the chance for localised heavy falls, meteorologists say.

The low pressure system will probably be too far offshore to fit into a classic east coast low but “still has the potential to produce nasty rainfall”, Stephen Stefanac, a duty forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said. For now, the bureau is predicting 1-10 millimetres today for the city and 15-30 millimetres tomorrow.

Just how far the rain falls inland from the coast is uncertain, with models suggesting a “fine line” could mean the difference between some heavy showers or not getting much rain at all, Mr Stefanac said. Strengthening winds from about midday today into tomorrow means “it will feel really cold” those days, Jacob Cronje, a senior forecaster at Weatherzone, said.

Top temperatures should continue to reach about 18-19 degrees from Monday through to Thursday in the city but the “feel like” conditions will seem much cooler because of the wind chill, he said. According to the bureau, coastal NSW may be one of the few places in Australia to collect more than the odd shower over the coming four days. (See bureau chart of forecast totals out to Thursday.)

Sydney’s rain is likely to arrive this evening and will mostly be confined to the coastal strip, with only a few millimetres expected to fall in western parts of the city during this spell. “Wednesday will be pretty wet throughout the day” for places close to the coast, Mr Cronje said. Those gusty winds, though, will make it further inland. Also getting some of the moisture will be the alpine regions, with resorts in Victoria and NSW likely to get bit of a dusting of snow in the run up to this long weekend’s formal opening of the ski season.

The return of a dominant high pressure system over southern Australia later in the week will leave only the chance of isolated snow showers and mostly clear skies.

While snowmaking can be cranked up over the coming nights with temperatures dropping to as low as minus-five at places such as Perisher, the mercury will nudge towards 5 or 6 degrees during the daytime come Sunday bringing some snow melt with it, the bureau predicts.