Widespread thunderstorms erupted over eastern NSW, VIC and the ACT today dropping heavy rain and triggering hundreds of lightning strikes. The cause is a deepening low pressure trough over eastern inland Australia. Moist north-easterly winds are feeding into this region of instability, triggering the stormy weather. Storms have been frequent south from the Central West Slopes and Plains district in New South Wales down to the Northeast district of Victoria. These storms have the potential to be severe with large hail, flash flooding and damaging winds all possible risks. A severe thunderstorm warning is currently in force for the Southwest Slopes, Central West Slopes and Plains, Riverina, and Snowy Mountains districts. Some of the heaviest falls today have been over western Sydney where a storm cell struck this afternoon. Kings Langley in northwest Sydney picked up 37mm in a few hours and nearby Seven Hills collected 24mm during the same period. The storms will strike again tomorrow as a cold pool of air in the upper atmosphere moves in, increasing instability and providing an additional risk of large hail. Keep up to date with storm warnings and outlooks at weatherzone.com.au.