A Hunter high school that suffered severe damage in Thursday's storm has been cleaned up to allow students to return on Friday.
Wild weather brought powerful winds, dumped heavy rain and pummelled hailstones on the Hunter Valley as thousands of homes lost power.
The power was cut to more than 2100 properties across the Newcastle suburbs for more than an hour from around 3pm; 1300 at Metford and Ashtonfield, upwards of 700 more were hit at Cessnock and Pokolbin, 639 around the southern end of Lake Macquarie and about 50 at Charlestown were still in the dark at 5pm.
As many as 5000 residents across the region were waiting for the lights to come back on as crews worked to gradually restore the connection into the evening.
Large trees fell at Mount View High School in Cessnock, including onto cars, which the school said "significantly" impacted the safe exit of students and staff.
"An army of contractor staff worked through the night to ensure our school is operational, allowing lessons to proceed largely as normal tomorrow, Friday, November 8," the school said in a social media post. "Almost all of the trees you can see in the images have been removed or made safe in the hours after the storm."
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 70 calls from the Cessnock area with downed trees as wind gusts above 70 kilometres per hour tore across the area.
More than half the jobs were completed on Thursday night but there were still 35 outstanding on Friday morning, with seven storm crews out in the field.
Mount View Road at Cessnock was briefly closed and made impassable by fallen trees. SES crews were similarly dispatched to the local jail, where a downed tree had obstructed a road.
As the weather cleared the valley, the city and Port Stephens entered the firing line.
A motorcycle rider was hospitalised with minor injuries after a crash involving a car at Charlestown Square around 3pm. Paramedics assessed the teenager at the scene on Frederick Street, near Ferris Street, and took him to John Hunter Hospital for further treatment.
A burst of heavy rain and thunder rolled over the suburbs as residents of Thornton reported hailstones the size of marbles. Forecasters tracked a pair of storm cells in the region's northeast, drifting towards Raymond Terrace and out to sea.
Branxton, Maitland, West Wallsend, Lochinvar and Dalwood were hit by rain and wind around 3.30pm as temperatures in parts of the region briefly plummeted by more than 11 degrees. A major blackout at Rutherford was estimated to take up to 12 hours to repair, though Ausgrid advised that it had affected fewer than 10 properties there.
Wind gusts at Maitland tore above 50 kilometres per hour as a cold front brought a ripping southerly change across the region that drifted offshore in the evening.
The SES is expecting a high pressure system over the weekend, with more storms possible.
Residents are advised to take the opportunity to prepare their properties and tie down loose items.
Due to the number of fallen trees, the SES advises people to be aware of fallen power lines and always treat them as live.
