A raging storm crossing NSW caused damage and brought ''dirty snow'' to the Snowy Mountains last night, but Canberra was less seriously affected.
Despite forecasts predicting gale-force winds and thunderstorms, ACT rainfalls were steady but tame, with 12mm recorded at Canberra International Airport late last night.
The ACT Emergency Services Agency reported no calls for help and a quiet night, by contrast with a wild storm in Canberra last week that prompted 76 calls for help after roofs collapsed and trees toppled over. Westerly wind gusts associated with a cold front were clocked at up to 80km/h in Canberra yesterday.
Elsewhere, parts of the Snowy Mountains were covered in ''dirty snow'' after duststorms from the Riverina and lower west deposited topsoil.
The storm kept NSW State Emergency Service crews busy in the state's west when winds of up to 100km/h tore roofs off buildings and knocked down trees.
The SES received more than 150 requests for help because of wind damage, about 100 of them from Broken Hill.
Strong winds and some rain felled a large tree and crushed a car at Broken Hill, SES spokesman Phil Campbell said.
The Terminus Hotel at Hay and Tattersalls Hotel in Goulburn were damaged in the storm.
An emergency crew used a cherry picker to secure the Tattersalls' roof. And some calls for help came from Wagga Wagga.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Peter Zmijewski said the storm had brought wind gusts of more than 100km/h through south-west NSW and left a coating of thin dust over the ski fields.
The bureau said damaging winds were recorded west of the Great Dividing Range.
Wind gusts of 115km/h were recorded yesterday at Fowlers Gap, near Broken Hill.
The severe weather is expected to move to the south-east of the state and affect the Illawarra, southern Sydney suburbs and Central Tablelands today before easing later in the day.
Hail is expected in the north-west of the state and gale warnings have been issued for Sydney, the South Coast, the Hunter and the mid-North Coast.
In Canberra, a high-pressure region is expected to bring a return to fine conditions today after some early showers, with moderate north-west to south-westerly winds.
A top of 16 degrees is predicted, with a low of 5 degrees and a 70 per cent chance of rainfall early on.
Fine conditions are expected to continue through to the weekend as the region slowly moves east to lie over the Tasman Sea on Thursday.
Canberra has recorded more than 23mm of rain for the month so far: the historical average is 52.3mm. About 12mm was recorded at Mt Ginini yesterday.
Actew managing director Mark Sullivan said water consumption had been on average about 112 megalitres a day, roughly on target.
Canberra's dams are about 49.5per cent full, an improvement on last year.
''With a bit of rain, some water will run into the catchment. [Dam levels] will go up to about 50 per cent in the next few days.'' with AAP