PARTS of central western NSW are already having their wettest February in seven years and more heavy rain and thunderstorms are about to sweep across the state.
A stream of tropical moisture interacting with a cold front and low pressure trough produced a broad band of rain and storms over NSW at the start of this week.
Underneath a blanket of thick clouds, rain affected almost every district in NSW on Monday and Tuesday.
At one stage, a long line of thunderstorms was stretching hundreds of kilometres between the Victorian and Queensland borders.
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These state-wide storms produced rainfall totals of 20 to 40 millimetres from Bombala in the south to Brewarrina in the north.
A rain gauge in Orange collected 69mm during the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday.
This is just shy of the site's entire monthly average of 74mm and makes this its wettest February since 2014, only a few days into the month.
Amid the prolific thunderstorms, over 113,000 lightning strikes were detected within a 200km radius of Orange between midday and midnight on Monday.
Now, another round of rain and potentially severe thunderstorms are about to spread over the state during the next few days.
A cold pool of air interacting with a stream of tropical moisture will cause wet and stormy weather in almost every district of NSW between Thursday and Sunday.
The heaviest and most widespread rain will occur on Friday and Saturday, spreading from west to east.
Much of western NSW should receive around 20mm to 40mm in total from this system, with some areas likely to see over 50mm.
These heavier falls will mostly occur with thunderstorms, which could cause localised flash flooding. Keep an eye on the latest warnings during the next few days.
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