A potent coastal storm developed earlier this week off the coast of New South Wales, bringing heavy rain and power outages. More of the same is expected into Wednesday, AccuWeather forecasters say.

Coastal New South Wales, including Sydney, is expected to be hit hard by this storm with flash flooding and damaging wind gusts.

"A strengthening coastal storm will produce heavy rain and strong winds from eastern Victoria to eastern New South Wales through early Wednesday, local time," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.

This infrared satellite loop shows the developing storm system across southeastern Australia on Monday evening, Aug. 23, 2021. (AccuWeather Professional)

The most significant impacts from this storm will be felt along the coast of central New South Wales and areas immediately inland.

Rain that developed across eastern New South Wales on Monday and Monday night become heavier as the day went on Tuesday. In addition to the rain, gusty winds also impacted portions of the region.

The prospects of heavy rain prompted the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to issue flood watches for several rivers across eastern New South Wales.

Endeavour Energy, an electric company in the area, said on Tuesday evening that they were reporting at least 18,000 customers were without power.

Heavy rain is forecast to persist into Wednesday morning with a total of 3-5 inches (75-150 mm) falling in some areas. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches (200 mm) is possible.

The rain is expected to fall within a relatively short period of 12 to 24 hours which can lead to flash flooding, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas. Smaller rivers may quickly swell with rushing water and spill over their banks.

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"Locally damaging wind gusts are likely through Wednesday morning," added Nicholls.

Winds will be capable of reaching 60-70 mph (95-115 km/h) during that time, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust to 80 mph (130 km/h) possible along exposed coastal areas. The strongest winds can lead to downed trees and power outages. There can even be minor structural damage, especially to roofs and siding.

Not only can the rain lead to travel disruptions on the road, but flights may also be delayed or canceled. The strong winds will kick up dangerous surf which may cancel some ferry service.

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The storm is expected to pull away from the coast slowly throughout the day on Wednesday which will lead to the return of dry weather in most of eastern New South Wales late Wednesday, but rain can continue in eastern Victoria.

While there can still be a gusty wind near the coast, winds will trend lighter through the day Wednesday and should not cause any additional damage or power outages.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.

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