Start of unsettled weather as storms hit ranges and slopes through much of NSW

Storms moved over the state with unpredictable weather to last for at least the next two days with some major rainfall totals to come. Thursday is expected to have the heaviest falls.

Carrathool shire acting general manager Robert Rayner said a severe storm north of Hay hit a roadway and a number of motorists were stuck in the aftermath. Council was forced to close the Hillston to Booligal road.

A grader was sent from Hay to try and pull the motorists out. A similar event happened near Rankin Springs a few months ago.

“It’s not unusual to have a lot of rain quickly in one spot and unfortunately we have to close them.” The incident was tagged as a “flood” on the NSW livetraffic website.

At 4pm, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for people in parts of Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains, Riverina, Lower Western, Upper Western and Northern Tablelands Forecast Districts.

Tamworth may get up to 60mm in the next two days, Dubbo may get between 20-40mm, and further south near the Victorian border the falls may be heavy as well. 

The Bureau issued a severe weather warning for most of the East coast of Australia today in relation to the remnants of cyclone Owen that is expected to track down the Queensland coast, but also send moist air further south than Queensland.

“The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of the potential for severe weather throughout significant areas of eastern Australia in the coming days as two weather systems bring rain and thunderstorms across a large area,” the BOM said.

“Tropical Cyclone Owen is currently moving slowly westward in the Gulf of Carpentaria as a category-one system, and the current forecast indicates an intensifying trend to category-two later today, and category-three by tomorrow morning.”

Manager of the Bureau of Meteorology, Extreme Weather Desk, James Taylor, said Owen is then expected to move toward the east during Friday and into the weekend, bringing large rainfall totals and strong winds to northern Queensland.

"Heavy rainfall potential exists for much of coastal Queensland during the weekend, with Tropical Cyclone Owen forecast to move southward," Mr Taylor said.

"Meanwhile a low-pressure system is forecast to develop over Victoria during Thursday. The low looks likely to gradually move to southwestern NSW on Friday then southwards during the weekend to be south of Tasmania by Sunday night.

"This system has the potential to draw moisture southward from Tropical Cyclone Owen, creating a large cloudband with associated severe thunderstorms along much of the east of the continent," he said.

"Heavy rainfall associated with the cloudband looks likely to affect Victoria on Thursday then contract southwards during Friday. Southeastern South Australia and northern and eastern Tasmania may also be affected by heavy rainfall over the next few days."

Severe thunderstorms within the cloud band are predicted for eastern New South Wales, however associated heavy rainfall is likely to be sporadic in nature.