Tamworth weather: Emergency services kept busy after violent rain and hail lashed city during severe thunderstorm on Wednesday

Fire and Rescue NSW zone commander Superintendent Tom Cooper said a housefire was narrowly avoided at Oxley Vale, when powerlines were brought down by gusty winds, heavy rain and large hail.

"The tree fell on some powerlines outside the house and caused a surge," he told the Leader.

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"There must have been a problem with the switchboard or something ... when firies arrived there was smoke coming from the eves of the house.

"Firies pulled out the fuses and it was all okay, it didn't actually start a fire."

Superintendent Cooper said his brigades worked with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) and State Emergency Service (SES) crews based across the Tamworth region to make sure all emergencies were answered swiftly during the storm.

"We had a lot of trouble with hail clogging up gutters and water going into buildings and setting off automatic fire alarms ... we had about 10 in the space of an hour," he said.

"There were loads of calls for trees down and storm-related things, most of which we were able to pass on to SES and RFS."

He said the firefighters rushed to every automatic alarm to service them immedaitely, including alarms at Centrepoint shopping centre and the Tamworth hospital.

The Gunnedah Fire and Rescue NSW squad was brought over to Tamworth at the height of the storm, and were on standby to help with emergencies as the storm raged.

Superintendent Cooper said it was great to see the emergency services working together, and also praised the "resilience" of the Tamworth community.

Grey skies and a rainy afternoon are in store for the city on Thursday afternoon, with another thunderstorm expected.

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