Sydneysiders have woken to a red haze unlike anything seen before by residents or weather experts, as the sun struggles to pierce a thick blanket of dust cloaking the city this morning.
Callers have flooded talkback radio and scores of emails have been received by smh.com.au by Sydney residents expressing their amazement at this morning's conditions.
"The reason for the dust is we had some really strong winds in the inland areas of NSW and in South Australia for a sustained period yesterday," said Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jane Golding.
"That's lifted a whole lot of dust off the ground because it's quite dry out there, many of those areas are still drought affected."
The lifted dust was carried by the winds into Sydney.
"I've not seen anything like this before."
The reddish haze was expected to fade as the sun got higher in the sky, Ms Golding said, but it was not known what would happen to the dust.
"This is such an infrequent event ... it's hard to say when the dust will stop."
The dust has caused havoc with the city's transport system this morning.
All citybound lanes on the M5 East tunnel have been closed because of dust on the tunnel, while flights at Sydney Airport are delayed as a result of the "strong winds and dust haze".
Sydney's ferries were also suspended due to poor visibility on harbour.
The RTA also issued a warning urging drivers to exercise caution and reduce speed due to "significant dust over the city affecting visibility".
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning across the state because of widespread damaging winds, which are expected to increase in force across Sydney this morning.
"It's been close to 60km/h already this morning ... it's just a matter of time before it gets stronger," Ms Golding said.
Wind speeds this morning were expected to average over 65km/h, but there would be gusts in excess of 100 km/h, the Bureau said.
The winds would gradually ease over the afternoon and evening, Ms Golding said.
The winds were being whipped up by a cold front that passed through the state yesterday, and a deep low pressure trough over Victoria.
Temperatures this morning in the low 20s, and were expected to remain that way for the rest of the day, Ms Golding said.
Last night, large hailstones fell in parts of Goulburn and Wagga, while wind gusts exceeded 90km/h, the Bureau said.
A 109km/h gust was reported at Moss Vale, it said.
Despite sunrise being at 5.43am, the city was a dark reddish haze after 6am this morning.
"It's just red, red, red as far as you can see," one caller at the Anzac Bridge told 2GB.
