Hail and damaging winds lash region as swift storm front sweeps through

Daylight turned to dusk as the storm front rolled into Wagga about 4.45pm, with reports of marble-sized hail falling at Lake Albert.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Olenka Duma said there were also observations of "accumulations of small hail" in the Junee and Tumut areas.

"Wagga recorded a gust of 80km/h with the storms moving through," Ms Duma said.

While the bureau recorded eight millimetres of rain at Wagga Airport in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday, the highest falls for the region were recorded further southeast with Tooma Dam receiving 25mm.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Argalong, southwest of Gundagai, recorded 20mm, Narrandera had 12mm, while further west Coleambally only recorded 7mm.

SES Southern Zone community capability officer Brett Koschel said there were seven calls for help across the region.

"The majority of those were for trees over roads [around Wagga, Batlow and Tumbarumba]," Mr Koschel said, adding that crews were deployed to incidents including a tree which fell on a fence at Junee.

Mr Koschel said there was "no significant damage as a result of the front that came through".

Coolamon Shire Council's tourism and business development officer Laura Munro witnessed the storm as it passed over the town's library about 4pm on Tuesday.

Despite seeing the storm build as the sky darkened, it still came as a bit of a shock.

Ms Munro said the temperature dropped quite significantly when the storm hit and the amount of rain and hail that fell also came as a surprise.

Coolamon received so much hail that some mistook it for white gold.

"My five-year-old son was picking up the hail and he said to me 'Look at the snow'," Ms Munro said.

Sarah McCaig, who was travelling back to Coolamon as the storm passed through, said it was "quite scary".

"As my husband and I were driving the wind picked up, there was lightning everywhere and the clouds were unbelievable," Mrs McCaig said.

Stopping on the side of the road to take some photos of the storm, she remarked it was "quite scary between the wind and lightning".

"We arrived home in Coolamon just as the hail hit and our backyard was white," she said.

Ms Duma said a cold front moved across the state on Tuesday, bringing quite a bit of storm activity with it, especially in southern parts.

The meteorologist said Tuesday's storm system is not unexpected for this time of year and we can expect more such weather in the coming months.

"The temperatures are starting to warm up ... and the days are getting longer, so we can expect to see more storms with these frontal systems as we head into spring and summer," she said.

Mr Koschel said with spring just a week away, and the storm season almost upon us, people should start to get ready.

"As we move into spring, storms can develop quite quickly, so as the combat agency for storms we ask people to be aware of the warnings issued by the bureau," he said.

"If you're travelling [on roads when a storm hits] you might want to find a safe spot to pull over.

"Now is a good time to make sure that your house is ready for these spring thunderstorms that can come up.

"Tying down the trampoline is a really good idea with wind gusts [like what] we saw yesterday. Loose items around the house also need to be secured."

Mr Koschel said spring storms can also bring some "quite intense rainfall" and now was a great time to consider the safety of trees and branches around the property.

"It's also a really good time to clean out those gutters and get the water off your roof and not through the ceiling," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: