SNOW, rain, hail and just a little sunshine - NSW had it all yesterday.

The sun was out early in the afternoon, when three young Belgian tourists hit the sand at Bondi Beach. Within half an hour the blue sky had given way to dark, swirling clouds and thunderstorms that drenched city workers in a brief downpour.

A cold front that swept across the state tipped snow on Orange, Bathurst and Katoomba. As the front pushed into Sydney, hail "the size of bean bag pellets" fell in several suburbs, said the Bureau of Meteorology's Chris Webb.

"We had reports of hail at Chatswood and Macquarie Park. There was quite a good dump, about [7.5 centimetres] at Mount Ousley. Pellet-sized hail was also reported at Nowra."

The arrival of the cold front sent the mercury plunging. In Orange it was zero at midday.

"And at Homebush Bay, between 2pm and 3pm, it went from 18 degrees to just 11," said Mr Webb. "Holsworthy went from 17 to nine."

By 4pm the storms had moved out to sea. Sydney's weather today should be calmer, with morning showers followed by sunshine.