Catching rain in the capital as spring's whispers begin

Motorists were puzzled yesterday afternoon by the sight of a woman near the new Monaro Highway bridge holding up a plastic bottle in an attempt to capture the rain.

The Smith family, of Jerrabomberra, were driving near the bridge when their car broke down because the radiator needed water.

The family had water inside the car but decided to collect some extra fluid as it fell from the sky as wel, in order to see how long it took to fill a plastic bottle.

Mum Tanya Smith said other motorists were visibly puzzled by what was going on.

"People must have thought I was mad," she said.

But the water was dirty and the Smiths gave up after a few minutes.

"The water was filthy because it was coming off the bridge," Mrs Smith said.

Yesterday's cold and wet conditions come in stark contrast to Wednesday's spring-like top of 19 degrees.

But, ironically, we have the same weather phenomenon to thank for both days, the Bureau of Meteorology's Nick Bright says - a cold front.

Cold fronts are generally preceeded by bursts of hotter air from the north west, bringing yesterday's warmth, before the actual front hits with rain and its associated cooler, and often unstable, conditions.

While there were a few storms over Canberra last night, yesterday's showers weree mild in comparison with a band of storms north of the capital.

Severe weather and thunderstorm warnings had been issued for large tracts of NSW, with storms stretching from north of Goulburn right up through the Central Tablelands almost to the Queensland border.

Thousands of homes in Sydney were left without power as winds battered the city and surrounding area, bringing down trees and creating traffic chaos.

Last night a warning remained in place for the ACT and surrounding areas, with the bureau predicting rain and strong winds  in the lead up to the weekend.

Mr Bright said the capital should expect a few more showers up until the afternoon today, and a chilly maximum temperature of just 12 degrees. ‘‘It will feel cold because we’ve got winds forecast to reach up to 35km/h in the afternoon,’’ Mr Bright said. The cool will stick around for the weekend, before the ACT rebounds to a forecast top of 19 degrees again by next Wednesday.

The whispers of spring in the warm weather shouldn’t be discounted, Mr Bright said.

‘‘When you’re in the middle of winter, the temperature doesn’t vary much. But as you get closer to spring, you get these swings,’’ he said.

It might not feel like it, but spring is definitely in the air.

with Hamish Boland-Rudder