Tornado rips through NSW, with 100km/h winds and rain, leaving trail of destruction

A mini tornado struck a town on the NSW South Coast on Saturday, as much of the state’s eastern and southern regions brace for rain, wind and storms for the October long weekend.

Footage shared on social media showed tables and chairs outside cafés in Ulladulla being swept down the street as winds reached gusts of 100km/h.

Footage also shows what appears to be a tornado passing through a built-up area.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the rare weather phenomenon hit the town at about 1pm.

But the twister disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

The SES had almost 100 calls for help, with 25 of those in Ulladulla alone, mostly for damaged roofs and fallen power lines.

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That same system reached Sydney by afternoon with a dark shelf cloud moving across the city’s suburbs, delivering a drenching.

More than 20mm of rain was recorded in under 40 minutes in the Sydney gauges, which was accompanied by lightning and hail.

The temperature in Sydney also plummeted after the storm moved through, dropping down from 21℃ earlier in the day to 15℃ by the time it pushed through.

Widespread severe thunderstorm warnings across the Sydney metropolitan area and parts of the ACT have now been cancelled.

Weather across the rest of the weekend

Conditions are expected to clear in time for Sunday evening’s NRL Grand Final kickoff at Sydney Olympic Park at 7.30pm, with maximum temperatures hovering around 23 to 24 degrees.

Canberra faces a similarly wet weekend, with lingering showers and a potential Saturday storm before clearing for a cool, foggy holiday Monday with tops of 21 degrees.

Melbourne will gradually ease into clearer weather after a soggy end to the week, though a threat of thunderstorms remains on Saturday with a top of 19 degrees before dropping to a cool 16 degrees on Sunday.

Hobart will stay fairly typical for early October, keeping near its seasonal average with a dry 17 degrees on Saturday and a top of 16 degrees with late showers on Sunday.

On the contrary, northern capitals are set to enjoy the best of the weather, with Brisbane staying mostly dry under sunny skies and highs reaching 27 degrees.

Darwin will see mostly dry conditions with maximums hitting 34 degrees on Saturday and 33 degrees on Sunday ahead of a slight chance of a late evening shower.

In Adelaide, mostly sunny skies will extend into holiday Monday with highs around 19 degrees to 20 degrees.

Perth will peak near its October average with 24 degrees on Saturday before a passing southern cold front brings southwesterly winds and drops Sunday’s high to a cooler 21 degrees.