More than 50 cm of hail fall on Sydney, Australia

A booming cold system which formed over the southwest slopes and the Blue Mountains hit Sydney, Australia with destructive winds and devastating hail on April 25, 2015.

Seven factories collapsed under more than 50 cm (20 inches) of hail while roads turned into rivers. Power was cut to at least 700 homes and businesses, The Daily Telegraph reports.

“I couldn’t believe it, it was like we were walking through snow,” NSW Fire and Rescue’s Supt Paul Johnstone said.

“I’ve never seen so much hail fall in one location. The factories just collapsed under the weight of the hail."

Australia's State Emergency Service received more than 600 calls for assistance after 16:00 local time, and were expecting many more as wild winds and rain lashed the city.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Francois Geffroy said a there has been some very heavy rainfalls within 10-minute windows, which led to heavy localized flooding. "

“A large portion of the metro was hit, with most the storms were out in the west and south. It mostly missed the north and eastern parts of the metropolitan region. The largest hail stones were 2 cm or slightly bigger than that, but most hail was about 1 cm."

"A sharp drop in temperatures aloft allowed much of the hail to fall to the ground," Geffroy explained.

Featured image: View of Lake Coulson St, Erskineville. Credit: SydneySINK (via Twitter)