Late on Saturday afternoon 21 March 2026 a storm started building to the west of Doonside while most of western Sydney was winding down. It grew quickly, and the chase was on toward Penrith. Cloud to ground lightning appeared as the base came closer, and the drive west along the Great Western Highway meant entering the core and driving through very heavy, then torrential, rain. At St Marys the sound changed — hail on the car roof — and water was already over parts of the road. Further west at Kingswood the hail was thick enough to sample, with drifts gathered in places near Chapman Park, and a local creek was in flood. The storm produced hail up to 5 cm across the area; on the chase, stones around 3 cm were verified and photographed around St Marys and Kingswood. Afternoon storms like this one do not need a headline to matter. By the time it cleared, plenty of cars around the west had fresh dents and a few roads were closed under water.
