IT was the warmest August day in years, but quickly became the windiest and wildest. A ``vigorous" cold front and trough sweeping across NSW created gale force winds with gusts of more than 100km/h in parts of Sydney yesterday. Emergency crews were kept busy with wind-related calls throughout the afternoon and last night. Fallen powerlines, trees down across roads and even roofs torn off houses were the main concerns. At the height of the bluster, a man was crushed by a brick wall that collapsed in Cronulla, suffering serious leg injuries. In Bankstown, an elderly woman was treated by paramedics after a tree branch fell and slashed her face. The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue helicopter was called out on five separate rescue missions within 90 minutes, all due to the wind. Thousands of homes and businesses were left without power for much of the afternoon but by last night most of it had been restored. Sydneysiders woke to forecasts of up to 24 degrees, which was reached in the city by midday, where 24.4 was recorded. The temperature dropped about four degrees in just an hour when the wind picked up. Gusts of up to 96km/h were recorded in the early afternoon at Camden, and 95km/h at Kurnell and Sydney Airport . Tree falls down on car in high winds at Doonside. The weather bureau issued a severe weather warning, predicting dangerous winds in the Hunter, South Coast and Illawarra, Sydney, Snowy Mountains and Central and Southern Tablelands. Bellambi, near Wollongong, had a gust of 102km/h, while the wind at Nobbys beach in Newcastle hit 70km/h. The westerly direction of the winds also caused chaos on the state's waterways - in Sydney Harbour the wind roared up the waterway with Fort Denison recording a gust of 95km/h. The State Emergency Service had received more than 250 calls for help last night. Most of our jobs were for southern and western Sydney but we are getting reports from other areas as well. It's definitely impacted on the metropolitan area," spokeswoman Danielle Wearne said. "In Epping, a verandah has been stripped and has flown onto the roof of a house, damaging a chimney and sending tiles everywhere," SES spokeswoman Danielle Wearne said. Strong winds knocked down a tree onto power lines at Parker Ave, West Pymble. The upshot of the westerly-wind driven cold front meant a good dumping of snow in the Australian Alps. The same westerly winds brought warm air from Australia's interior to the city., which hit a top temperature of almost 25C - the warmest August day in more than a decade, the Bureau said. The wind will continue to come from the west today, but will drop to only around 20kmh in Sydney. Temperatures should reach about 21 degrees in Sydney, and reach 22 tomorrow. The bureau said there was a chance windy conditions could blow up again by the weekend, although they were not expected to be as wild.