Sydney commuters could be in for a stormy ride home with thunderstorms predicted, while residents in northern parts of the state face large hail and damaging winds that could even whip into tornadoes.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Monday issued a severe thunderstorm warning for heavy rain, large hailstones and damaging winds for a region stretching from Griffiths in the Riverina all the way up to the Queensland border.

Among locations affected include Armidale, Orange, Mudgee, Gulgong, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree, Narrabri, Walgett, Dubbo, Parkes and Lightning Ridge. (See bureau map below.)

For Sydney, showers are likely for coastal suburbs and the northern beaches. "There's a particular bull's-eye of rainfall over there," Graeme Brittain, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said.