Inside is the place to be if you are in coastal NSW on Saturday, or the Northern Rivers.

A big, angry low spinning over the Tasman Sea is the cause of the horrible weather in coastal NSW on Saturday. It has formed an occluded front offshore, and is directing cold, powerful winds and rain to much of the NSW coast and adjacent inland, as well as large, dangerous surf.

Image: The deep Tasman Low responsible for the wild weather in much of coastal NSW on Saturday, using the Himawari-8 satellite.

The strongest wind gust recorded so far on Saturday is 106km/h at Wattamolla just before 11am. Other notable gusts are 100km/h at Montague Island, 89km/h at Kiama and 82km/h at Ulladulla. The strongest gust in Sydney was 76km/h just after 11am. It’s currently the windiest day in over a year at Wattamolla, and 11 months at Ulladulla. Little Bay is having its windiest day in almost a year a half, with gusts up to 80km/h.

Rain is widespread over many eastern districts, however the heaviest falls are staying offshore. Heavy falls are possible over the coastal fringe of the Mid North Coast this afternoon and evening as the bulk of the rain tracks north.

Offshore, the low is generating very large waves. 10 metre waves have been recorded off Batemans Bay, Port Kembla and Sydney, and five metre waves off the Mid North Coast. Wave heights will increase on the North Coast on Sunday, but not likely to get as big as the South Coast or Sydney.

The low is moving northeast over the Tasman Sea, but slowly. Conditions will gradually ease along the southern and central coasts during Sunday, however winds are likely to strengthen along the North Coast. See https://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp?lt=wzstate&lc=nsw for warnings related to the low.