Wollongong spent Monday again bracing for a thunderstorm, and breathed a sigh of relief when a storm warning was cancelled.
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After almost a full week of afternoon and evening storms, many rejoiced to hear a storm warning lifted.
A thunderstorm with hailstones and damaging wind was predicted to hit Wollongong around 2pm.
However, the detailed advisory for Wollongong was lifted just minutes later. A general thunderstorm warning remained in place for the Illawarra, but the afternoon was instead an unexpectedly warm one.
The Illawarra received only sprinklings of rain on Monday, with negligible results recorded at Albion Park, Kiama and Bellambi.
That was good news for the State Emergency Service, who said another lashing of rain could have led to big problems.
‘‘The ground is very saturated. If we got a decent storm [on Monday] we could have trouble with over land flooding,’’ said Wollongong SES incident controller, Ashley Sullivan.
‘‘Our flood hotspots haven’t flooded, but they might flood quickly if the rain keeps up.’’
While the Illawarra was spared, Mr Sullivan said the SES received eight calls for assistance in a five minute period in Nowra.
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‘‘When everything is wet, it doesn’t take much of a storm to get a lot of work,’’ he said.
Mr Sullivan said the SES responded to 330 jobs between Wollongong and the Victorian border in the last week.
Showers are again predicted for Tuesday, with tops of 23 degrees in the Illawarra. Rain is predicted to linger until Sunday.
