Sydney weather: Parts of city cop heaviest falls in five years

Parts of Sydney have had their biggest dump of rain in five years, helping to soak gardens still dry after a prolonged spell of below-average falls.

Mona Vale in the city's north collected 112 millimetres of rain overnight, the most for that site since 2013, Brett Dutschke, senior meteorologist with Weatherzone, said. The 56mm of rain at the airport was the most in 21 months.

Parts of Sydney had their biggest fall of rain in five years.
Photo: Nick Moir

The rain dump was caused by a southerly change that slowed as it moved up the coast, creating a relatively small region of converging winds "with a fair bit of moisture", he said.

Sydney itself collected 53mm, the second-most in the past nine months.

Showers will ease through Tuesday with a chance of regathering tomorrow morning, although without the intensity of those overnight, Mr Dutschke said.

The western suburbs collected much less rain, although 20mm fell in places such as Penrith and will bring some relief to parched parks.

The relief will also be in the temperatures, with the region having a mild day in the mid-20s before the mercury climbs towards the mid- to high-30s again by the weekend.

Coastal suburbs will likely enjoy more moderate conditions with temperatures kept to about 30 degrees for the three days from Saturday, on current forecasts by the Bureau of Meteorology.

According to Weatherzone, Observatory Hill has not had a weekend with both days over 30 degrees for a year, while Penrith has had nine - including two above 40 degrees.

"Some parts of NSW will likely have their warmest March day in three or four years," Mr Dutschke said.

The fire risks will likely be more severe in Victoria over the weekend.

A couple of days in the mid-30s for most of the state will be broken by a gusty wind change on Sunday in regions that have been much drier this summer than NSW.

"Given how dry it has been lately, fire danger this weekend has potential to reach 'extreme' in parts of northern South Australia, northern Victoria and western NSW, and 'severe' in other parts of SA, Victoria - including parts of Melbourne,"Mr Dutschke said.

Concerns that a deep low in the Coral Sea may develop into a cyclone for Queensland are probably going to ease.

While winds and rain may batter parts of that state, the clearest impact may be felt from bigger waves along the coast, he said.

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