The Illawarra and its surrounds have lived through four seasons in a single day, complete with snow, flooding, wild winds, sideways rain and, later, cloudless blue skies.
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The unpredictable day was the result of a rare union between a pool of cold air shot up from far south of Australia, and a low pressure system that developed off the coast on Thursday night.
The system helped to stir up waves more than eight metres high at Port Kembla and 90km/h winds at Kiama.
It snowed at sites across NSW including Canyonleigh in the Southern Highlands, catching the alpacas unaware.
The snow - unseasonal and falling uncharacteristically to low-lying areas across the state - was fascinating even to veteran observers at the Bureau of Meteorology.
"It's definitely been an interesting 48 hours," said the bureau's Michael Logan.
"Watching it unfold has been of great interest to us meteorologists. We've seen widespread snowfalls right up and down the Great Dividing Range, to quite low levels. That Moss Vale [less than 700m above sea level] reported snow is very unusual."
Wollongong woke yesterday to heavy thunder and rain, debris, and a chilly seven degrees - shocking after balmy days that seemed to signal an early start to summer.
More than 40 millimetres of rain fell on Kiama between 5am and 3pm; the drenching was similar at Albion Park.
Leaking roofs and roof damage accounted for the majority of 73 calls to the SES across the Illawarra in the 24 hours from 6pm Thursday.
Damage included the awning at City Beach surf club, but was more widespread south, at Nowra, where residents logged more than 170 calls for urgent assistance.
Morning conditions were similarly cold and wet in much of the state, with snow also reported at Goulburn, and Katoomba and Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. In Guyra, on the Northern Tablelands, 17 centimetres of snow was recorded.
By 2pm, the cold and the low pressure system were starting to lose their grip on much of the state, including the Illawarra, where blue skies prevailed.
In Wollongong, the forecast is for a mostly cloudy and mild day today, with early showers on an otherwise sunny day tomorrow.
