What Happened in Ulladulla When the Tornado Hit?
Learn what happened when a tornado hit Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, including recorded wind gusts, building and tree damage, and how the same storm system later caused flash flooding and emergency rescues in Sydney.
A tornado swept through Ulladulla, on the New South Wales South Coast, knocking down trees, damaging buildings and sending café furniture flying down the street. The twister hit as severe thunderstorms moved across the state, and it disappeared as quickly as it came. Nine.com.au described the aftermath as a trail of destruction.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts of up to 98 km/h around Ulladulla, and reports put gusts at 100 km/h. Tables and chairs outside the town’s cafés were swept along the road, according to Nine.com.au. The State Emergency Service received more than 230 calls for help across the state, with most of those coming from Ulladulla.
One storm, two very different impacts
The tornado was not an isolated event. The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a severe thunderstorm and damaging wind warning for central and south-eastern parts of the state, including Sydney, Wollongong, Katoomba, Penrith, Parramatta and Bowral. The same system that produced the Ulladulla tornado reached Sydney by afternoon.
A dark shelf cloud moved across the city’s suburbs as the storms arrived. Rain fell quickly and heavily: some gauges recorded more than 20 mm in under 40 minutes, and the CBD saw up to 30 mm in less than half an hour. Wind gusts reached 72 km/h at Sydney Harbour, and the storms brought lightning and hail.
The flash flooding that followed trapped two people in their cars in Moore Park and Darlinghurst, and the State Emergency Service rescued both.
What the event showed
Severe thunderstorm warnings for the Sydney metropolitan area were cancelled as the system moved on, but warnings remained in place for parts of the ACT. The Ulladulla tornado and the later Sydney storms were products of the same weather setup, yet their damage was very different. In one town, the main impact was downed trees, damaged buildings and wind-blown furniture. In the city, it was flash flooding on roads.
The scale of the emergency response — more than 230 calls, most of them in Ulladulla — showed how one severe thunderstorm can concentrate most of its damage in a single area. For residents and travellers, the day was a reminder that a broad storm warning can hide very localised, rapidly changing hazards.