Trees were uprooted and umbrellas remained hard to handle, but the Illawarra was spared the worst of the wild weather that wreaked havoc elsewhere on Tuesday.
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Despite persistent gales thanks to an intense low pressure system near Newcastle which was gradually moving south, the region's rainfall failed to match Monday's downpours.
Wollongong's Bellambi Point weather station recorded 76 millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday, its heaviest rain since October, while 70 millimetres in the gauge at Albion Park delivered the suburb its wettest April day in at least 16 years.
By comparison, just 12.4 millimetres and 9.4 millimetres respectively was measured between 9am and 5pm on Tuesday.
Along the coast, a storm force wind warning was issued as exposed areas were battered by southerly winds gusting to 96km/h at Bellambi Point and 91km/h at Kiama.
The car park at Austinmer Beach disappeared under a blanket of sand, while walking tracks along Wollongong's Flagstaff Hill were also given a coating.
The erratic winds also uprooted trees, including one that was partially ripped from the pavement at Wollongong Harbour.
Senior Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said despite the movement of the east coast low, the Illawarra was unlikely to see the rainfall experienced further north.
"What we're seeing in the Hunter is it's quite close to the low pressure system and ... there's a couple of severe thunderstorms as well there and that's why we've seen the remarkable flooding rains around Dungog and Maitland," Mr Sharpe said.
Late on Tuesday the low pressure system was moving south, however, conditions were expected to slowly ease overnight as the system gradually weakened.
Mr Sharpe said the Illawarra could expect showers and gusty winds to continue on Wednesday.
"The rain will probably be at its heaviest [Wednesday] morning, then it will start to back off," he said.
The strong winds also whipped up wild seas on Tuesday.
Mr Sharpe said data from the Port Kembla wave buoy was "a bit erratic" but conditions were similar to the seven-metre waves recorded in Sydney.
"We've seen waves on the beaches [in Sydney] of 10 to 12 foot in surf language, so six foot is double overhead when somebody's surfing a wave," he said.
"I would expect that in the Illawarra it has been fairly similar, probably a little bit less intense than Sydney."
The Bureau of Meteorology's MetEye, which shows interactive weather observations, indicated a significant wave height of between six and seven metres off Wollongong and slightly higher north of Bulli late on Tuesday.
Mr Sharpe said the Illawarra could expect a shower or two on Thursday, with mostly dry conditions and possible shower Friday and the weekend.
"There's going to be a cut-off low pressure system moving up from south-west Victoria and up into NSW ... and as that moves across it's going to dry out," he said.
As of 5pm Tuesday, the SES has received 5413 calls for assistance statewide, just over 200 of which were in the Illawarra. A severe weather warning remained in effect on Tuesday night.