After a brief lull in storm activity, thunderstorms are hitting large parts of New South Wales again this week, bringing the risk of damaging winds, heavy rainfall, large hail and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning.
Thunderstorms have fired up across southern and central areas this afternoon and will spread to some northern areas later, and are currently severe warned for damaging wind gusts and large hail.
With temperatures increasing and moisture levels decreasing a little, these thunderstorms are higher based than those seen on the weekend. This improves the chances of spectacular lightning displays and also enhances the risk of damaging wind gusts, however the risk of flash flooding and large hail is lower than on the weekend (but still a chance).
The cause of the thunderstorms is a broad low pressure trough lying across the state, being fed by moist onshore winds. This is a more typical setup for this time of the year, compared to the one that produced widespread severe thunderstorms from Thursday to Sunday last week.
Tomorrow, thunderstorms will again focus on more central areas (mainly the central east), but will also spread into some parts of the Northern Rivers.
On Friday and Saturday, thunderstorms will contract to the northeast of the state, before a gusty southeasterly change clears activity from the state by Sunday.
Image 1: NSW Thunderstorm Probability - 19th December 2018