Portal:New South Wales/Selected article/06, 2008

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The 1947 Sydney hailstorm was a natural disaster which struck the New South Wales capital on January 1, 1947. The storm cell developed in the morning of New Years' Day, a public holiday in Australia, over the Blue Mountains before hitting Sydney and dissipating east of Bondi in the mid-afternoon. At the time, it was the most severe to strike the city since records began in 1792.

The strength of the storm was put down to the high humidity, temperatures and weather patterns of Sydney. Damages associated with the storm were estimated at the time to be approximately £750,000 (US$3 million), approximately equal to A$45 million in modern figures. The supercell dropped hailstones larger than 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in diameter, with the most significant damage occurring in the central business district and eastern suburbs of Sydney.

The event caused around 1000 injuries, with between 200 and 350 people requiring hospitalisation or other medical attention, predominantly caused by broken window shards. The most severe injuries were located on Sydney's beaches, where many people had no cover or shelter. The size of the hailstones would be the largest seen in Sydney for 52 years, until the 1999 Sydney hailstorm caused A$1.7 billion in insured damage in becoming the costliest natural disaster in Australian history.