After days under a baking summer sun, the clouds rolled back over Newcastle Thursday as a cold front pushed into the northeast part of the state.
Temperatures dropped from just shy of 28 degrees Wednesday to a cooler 18 Thursday as wet and grey conditions prevailed, and were expected to linger for the remainder of the week.
Forecasters for the Bureau of Meteorology had warned of the chance of a thunderstorm about the Upper Hunter on Friday as the broader weather pattern brings unsettled conditions to several parts of the state over the next few days.
A severe weather warning was issued for the western parts of the region around Merriwa Thursday afternoon for heavy rainfall and possibly damaging winds as a trough and an unstable atmosphere triggered the possibility of storms.A second cell hung over northern parts of the Tablelands and Mid North Coast.
Showers were expected to settle across the region through Monday, but the mercury was expected to rise again with tops of 28 degrees Saturday.
Choppy conditions and a three to four foot surf dominated the beaches under strong southerly winds and conditions were unlikely to improve into Friday morning.
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