NSW's weekend heat gave way to torrential rain and flashflooding in parts of the state, while Perisher copped 20cm of snow Perisher took 20cm of snow today. Picture: Twitter/Tom McIlroy Source: Supplied STIFLING heat, torrential rain and, now, 20cm of snow. Welcome to what has been a bizarre week of weather for NSW. Severe thunderstorms have been forecast for this afternoon and evening across a large part of north eastern and central NSW and Sydneysiders have been warned the heavy rain which flooded roads this morning is set to return later today. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm alert for areas around Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Orange, Tamworth, Moree and Dubbo. "The storms are likely to produce damaging winds and large hailstones....over the next several hours," a bureau spokesman said at 4pm. The rain followed a weekend of intense heat which saw the mercury peak above 36C in Sydney's west. Heavy rain has lashed Sydney and other parts of NSW. The bureau spokesman said areas of possibly heavy rain could hit Sydney this afternoon or evening, and easterly winds would increase in strength to 45kmh, before turning to the south east. The city's top temperature could not reach its forecast high of 19C today, managing only 17.8C. But that was warm compared to the Snowy Mountains. Perisher managed a top temperature of just 0.7C, with it came at least 20cm of unseasonal snow. The rain is expected to continue in Sydney tomorrow, but gradually ease throughout the day. Earlier, the heavy rain overnight kept emergency services busy with several roads closed temporarily due to flash flooding. Flashflooding in New Lambton in Newcastle after torrential overnight. Picture: Facebook/NBN Television Source: Supplied The mid North Coast copped the brunt of storms with 61mm of rain falling at Taree since 9am yesterday, 45mm at Grafton and 46mm at Lake Macquarie. In Sydney, Badgerys Creek (42.6mm), Penrith (35mm) and the city (36mm) had the most rainfall, while Wollongong's Bellambi (49.4mm) was the most affected down south. The SES has responded to nearly 315 jobs across the state with about 200 in Sydney, while crews have also been called to the Hunter and Mid North Coast for the rest. There have been no rescues, with half of the calls for help related to leaking roofs and downed trees but SES spokesman Sue Prichard said they expected the number of calls for help to increase throughout the day as the storms, expected to last until Wednesday, continued. Karl Stefanovic dealt with the weekend's stifling heat by being dunked more than 100 times Ravenswood School for Girls fete. There was a two-car accident on Richmond Rd, Rooty Hill, after 7am and the Traffic Management Centre advised motorists to exercise caution and allow additional travel time with heavy rain affecting numerous roads around the Sydney region. Sydney's big wet settled in today.