The swell was so powerful there was even surf inside the harbour.
Bram Page spent the day surfing at Neilsen Park, where waves turned the normally “calm, peaceful and serene” spot into a “washing machine”.
Francis Laurie, 10, at the top of Nielsen Park steps, Vaucluse.Credit: Kat Vidovic
“Neilsen Park – you’d be lucky to get one or two [surfs] a year,” he said. “It’s been great.”
Page said the park, which opened after three years due to ongoing delays, was experiencing such a strong swell that water had washed away sand under the new concrete steps. He said children, including 10-year-old Francis Laurie, were enjoying the waves.
“Kids are playing on the stairs and getting ready to run back to the beach as a wave hits.”
The large swell is being pushed by the lingering low-pressure system which drenched Sydney over the past week in addition to strong winds that whip the surf.
Big swells off the coast near Cape Solander, near Kurnell.Credit: Wolter Peeters
A heavy fog which blanketed Sydney in the early morning dissipated to leave a bright, warm and sunny day.
The bureau’s Dean Narramore said visibility was as low as 50 metres in some parts of Sydney in the morning, including around the Harbour Bridge.
“We saw fog develop along our western and southern suburbs, a few hours after sunset [on Monday],” he said on Tuesday morning, adding the previous day’s showers and a lack of wind had created the perfect conditions for thick, widespread fog.
“That just continued to expand overnight and early this morning, and now thick fog is covering much of Sydney Harbour out to the airport.”
The number of international and domestic flights taking off and landing at Sydney Airport was reduced on Tuesday morning, and a small number were cancelled.
The bureau issued a road weather alert for all of Sydney and advised motorists to take extreme care. No Sydney ferries were running at 6am, Transport for NSW advised, but ferries east of the Harbour Bridge resumed about 6.30am followed by all remaining services by 9am.
Weatherzone meteorologist Aline Ribeiro said Tuesday morning’s fog was “really dense”. “It’s really easy for this to develop when you have a high-pressure system and a cold weather front,” she said, adding Tuesday’s settled conditions, light winds, and high humidity – at 98 per cent in the morning – meant the fog would linger before temperatures rose.
Conditions are considered to have created fog when the concentration of water droplets means visibility is less than one kilometre. Tuesday morning’s fog followed similar conditions in June, in which ferries were cancelled and Sydney-wide road weather alert was issued.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast temperatures in Sydney would reach nearly 23 degrees on Tuesday. Wednesday is also expected to be sunny with a top temperature of 19 degrees.
Tuesday’s weather and surf conditions will slowly transition back to rainy and cold, with the weather bureau warning rain is set to return by the end of the week.
The likelihood of rain is higher on Thursday with a high of 17 degrees, while showers and light winds are forecast to return on Friday and through the weekend. There was a medium chance of showers expected for Sunday’s City2Surf race.
Flood warnings were issues across NSW after heavy downpours at the start of August saw flood warnings issued across NSW. Sydney experienced rainfall totals of at least 100 to 150 millimetres last week, and parts of Newcastle and the Hunter about 200 millimetres.
NSW Police said divers had joined a multi-agency search for a 26-year-old woman swept away in floods 16 kilometres north of Cessnock in the Hunter Valley on Saturday.
The woman, a Chinese tourist, was a passenger in a vehicle which became stuck after it attempted to drive through floodwater on Saturday evening. The 27-year-old driver escaped uninjured.
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