Gumleaf
October 14th, 2014, 03:15 PM
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/severe-thunderstorm-rages-across-sydney/ar-AA6Mek8
Sydney Morning Herald
Alexandra Back and Melanie Kembrey
© Fairfax Media
An epic storm raged across Sydney last night, trapping dozens on a train, closing major roads and bringing snow to the Blue Mountains.
A lightning bolt struck the Sydney Tower about 10pm, creating a shower of sparks and plunging the structure into darkness.
Ultimo resident Tom Lane said it was "like someone was welding".
"It was one of the biggest bolts of lightning I have ever seen. It was absolutely massive. The whole tower went black," Mr Lane said.
Almost a year to the day since bushfires wiped out more than 200 homes in the area, snow blanketed the Blue Mountains. Snow and ice forced the closure of the Great Western Highway between Bathurst and Blackheath.
The severe thunderstorm warning was cancelled at 12.27am for Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. The severe weather warning for damaging to destructive winds, heavy rainfall and damaging surf remained in place for the metropolitan area.
Bureau of Meteorology forecast office manager Andrew Treloar said Sydney saw some "extraordinary" wind speeds last night with wind gusts reaching 161 km/h in Wattamolla.
"This has been a significant event for Sydney," Mr Treloar said. The wind gusts were strongest along the coast with Kurnell, Sydney and Bellambi all experiencing wind gusts over 100 km/h.
The rainfall was also highest along the coast. By midnight, San Sousi had received 127mm of rain, Cronulla had 109mm and Strathfield picked up 106mm.
At 11pm, 60 passengers had to be rescued from a train stuck between Kingsgrove and Bexley North.
About 50 people were still trapped on the train at midnight with emergency services having difficulty reaching them through the floods.
NSW Fire and Rescue responded to more than 190 weather-related emergencies, including 85 reports of flooding, between 6pm and 10pm.
With gusts of up to 95km/h, there were ongoing dramas at Sydney Airport. About 18 domestic and several international flights were delayed or diverted as the storm descended.
The airport closed at 11pm due to its curfew, but several airlines had applied for special permission from the NSW government to operate past the curfew.
Expected flight times depended on the weather and individual airlines, the spokeswoman said.
The NSW State Emergency Service had responded to more than 600 calls for help by midnight and the calls were still coming in steadily, spokesman Phil Campbell said.
The SES had to rescue 40 people from their cars, most of whom had been trapped by flood water.
By 4am, the SES tweeted that "the number of requests for emergency assistance has reached 1230, with 57 of these flood rescues".
NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman Superintendent Paul Johnstone said due to the sheer volume of calls for help, extra fire crews from the Illawarra region had been called in and fire engines from the training college were being used.
"The majority of the calls have been for floodings, trees down, wires down and recently we've had a house fire at Normanhurst caused by a lightning strike," Superintendent Johnstone said.
And by midnight, the calls still weren't slowing down.
"Our volume of calls is pretty consistent. There's been no major jobs requiring coordinated resources. They've just been constant all through the night," he said
A two-storey house in Kellyville was also set alight at 10pm after a lightning strike started a fire. There was also a house fire in Guildford just before midnight.
Roads across the city were closed and more than 11,000 homes across the city lost power.
Sydney Morning Herald
Alexandra Back and Melanie Kembrey
© Fairfax Media
An epic storm raged across Sydney last night, trapping dozens on a train, closing major roads and bringing snow to the Blue Mountains.
A lightning bolt struck the Sydney Tower about 10pm, creating a shower of sparks and plunging the structure into darkness.
Ultimo resident Tom Lane said it was "like someone was welding".
"It was one of the biggest bolts of lightning I have ever seen. It was absolutely massive. The whole tower went black," Mr Lane said.
Almost a year to the day since bushfires wiped out more than 200 homes in the area, snow blanketed the Blue Mountains. Snow and ice forced the closure of the Great Western Highway between Bathurst and Blackheath.
The severe thunderstorm warning was cancelled at 12.27am for Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. The severe weather warning for damaging to destructive winds, heavy rainfall and damaging surf remained in place for the metropolitan area.
Bureau of Meteorology forecast office manager Andrew Treloar said Sydney saw some "extraordinary" wind speeds last night with wind gusts reaching 161 km/h in Wattamolla.
"This has been a significant event for Sydney," Mr Treloar said. The wind gusts were strongest along the coast with Kurnell, Sydney and Bellambi all experiencing wind gusts over 100 km/h.
The rainfall was also highest along the coast. By midnight, San Sousi had received 127mm of rain, Cronulla had 109mm and Strathfield picked up 106mm.
At 11pm, 60 passengers had to be rescued from a train stuck between Kingsgrove and Bexley North.
About 50 people were still trapped on the train at midnight with emergency services having difficulty reaching them through the floods.
NSW Fire and Rescue responded to more than 190 weather-related emergencies, including 85 reports of flooding, between 6pm and 10pm.
With gusts of up to 95km/h, there were ongoing dramas at Sydney Airport. About 18 domestic and several international flights were delayed or diverted as the storm descended.
The airport closed at 11pm due to its curfew, but several airlines had applied for special permission from the NSW government to operate past the curfew.
Expected flight times depended on the weather and individual airlines, the spokeswoman said.
The NSW State Emergency Service had responded to more than 600 calls for help by midnight and the calls were still coming in steadily, spokesman Phil Campbell said.
The SES had to rescue 40 people from their cars, most of whom had been trapped by flood water.
By 4am, the SES tweeted that "the number of requests for emergency assistance has reached 1230, with 57 of these flood rescues".
NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman Superintendent Paul Johnstone said due to the sheer volume of calls for help, extra fire crews from the Illawarra region had been called in and fire engines from the training college were being used.
"The majority of the calls have been for floodings, trees down, wires down and recently we've had a house fire at Normanhurst caused by a lightning strike," Superintendent Johnstone said.
And by midnight, the calls still weren't slowing down.
"Our volume of calls is pretty consistent. There's been no major jobs requiring coordinated resources. They've just been constant all through the night," he said
A two-storey house in Kellyville was also set alight at 10pm after a lightning strike started a fire. There was also a house fire in Guildford just before midnight.
Roads across the city were closed and more than 11,000 homes across the city lost power.