Strong winds will hit NSW on Sunday in the final gust of the weather system that produced torrential rain overnight, triggering evacuations, 21 flood rescues and more than 650 calls for help statewide.
Strong southerly winds gusts of up to 90 km/h will whip the coastline between Forster and Ulladulla on Sunday morning as the low pressure system moves out to sea.
"[The lows] are expected to move quickly away from the coast, which is good news for us, the heaviest rainfall is really going to subside," said Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.
"From midday, rain is expected to become much more isolated because the system literally takes all the moisture off the coast."
As the front crosses NSW overnight, it generates a broad total of between 25 and 50 millimeters of rainfall. Sydney escaped the worst of the rain, with the NSW South Coast, Central Coast and Mid-North Coast the hardest hit. Lake Conjola recorded 122 millimeters of rain, while 121 millimeters fell in Vincentia and 106 millimeters in Ulladulla.
In Sydney, Camden recorded a high total of 89.6 millimeters, with a similar drop of 88.8 millimeters at Mangrove Mountain on the Central Coast.
An emergency alert was issued for the Western Plains Tourist Park in Dubbo, the Oura Beach Camping reserve on the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga Wagga and the Gronos Point community in the Hawkesbury region of SES NSW received 658 requests for assistance as severe flooding hit the Macquarie, Darling, Culgoa and Lachlan rivers. A spokeswoman said families traveling home when school holidays ended needed to be aware of their surroundings.
"We ask them to monitor road conditions and if you find a road that is flooded, turn around and look for an alternative route," the spokesman said.
They added that fans traveling to Bathurst 1000 on Sunday should allow extra travel time and follow current weather conditions and warnings, with a moderate flood warning for the Macquarie River. A welcome back to pleasant spring conditions is expected across NSW on Monday with the arrival of the high pressure system. "It will be mostly dry and mostly sunny," Bradbury said.