As northern parts of the NSW coast prepared for heavy rain and damaging winds, forecasters said the Illawarra should dodge the wild weather.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, an east coast low was expected to deepen off the southern Queensland coast on Friday night.

Weatherzone meteorologist Anthony Duke said the system would shift south over the weekend, but wasn't expected to affect the Illawarra.

"It's going to weaken and move a little bit offshore, but we're expecting rain and cloud conditions to increase during Saturday, with as much as 10 to 20 millimetres expected in the 24 hours to the start of Sunday," Mr Duke said.

"We'll see the rain easing Sunday, we might see five to 10 millimetres more but from the end of Sunday and into the start of next week things will become a lot drier.

"We probably will have seen about 30 millimetres of rain, maybe some areas receiving 50 millimetres, over a couple of days but it's nowhere near as bad as further north."

All Wollongong City Council grounds, except Boronia Park at Windang, are off limits all weekend, while Russell Vale Golf Course has also been closed.

A decision to reopen the course on Sunday will be made on Saturday.

All Shellharbour City Council grounds have also been closed.