Wind gusts of 69km/hr were recorded at Bellambi and Port Kembla on Saturday afternoon, as forecasters warned of more wild weather to come.
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The Bureau of Meteorology issued a marine wind warning for gale-force winds for NSW coastal waters - including the Illawarra, Sydney and Batemans Bay - on Saturday morning.
The warning is in place for Sunday too, though meteorologist Helen Reid said conditions were expected to ease overnight.
"Gusts of 96km/hr have been recorded offshore on Saturday afternoon, while at Bellambi and Port Kembla gusts of 69km/hr were recorded around 1pm," she said.
"Further inland, in the Southern Highlands, gusts of 87km/hr were recorded on Saturday morning.
"We expect the strong and gale-force winds to stick around today as a vigorous cold front moves through, and these areas will continue to see winds of 30-40km/hr well into the evening.
"Gale-force winds are then expected to continue offshore on Sunday and Monday in coastal waters, but it should be much less breezy over the land itself."
Ms Reid said hazardous surf warnings were in place for parts of Sydney, however the south to south-westerly winds would not be as problematic at Illawarra beaches due to their orientation.
She still urged people to consider staying out of the water and avoid walking near surf-exposed areas, while rock fishers should avoid coastal rock platforms exposed to the ocean and seek a safe location sheltered from the surf.
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