Good falls around Lightning Ridge

Topping the charts were Poss and Ashley Barry and their parents Norm and Jude on the family's property, Homebush, between Lightning Ridge and Walgett, who recorded 190mm of rain in six hours from 3.30pm Sunday to 9pm that evening.

Mr Barry said the season had gotten tight on the almost 7300-hectare sheep property.

"We started feeding about six weeks ago, and this rain fell over about 95 per cent of Homebush. All our dams are full, and our swamps are running," he said. "The feed is just busting out of the ground and hammering up towards the sky."

Mr Barry said as soon as the ground dried up, he would begin planting sorghum to make the most of the downpour.

His neighbour, James Morris, Bonanza Merino stud, Lightning Ridge, recorded 100mm of rain.

Having begun feeding in June, Mr Morris said things were looking up, and he was considering planting sorghum on the country that had just come out of a canola crop.

"We're expecting another 25mm to 50mm according to the weather map on Thursday, and that would be great, especially on our place nearer to Lightning Ridge as I think we only got 25 to 30mm there," he said.

Mr Morris' canola yielded 2.2 tonnes a hectare, and there was still "plenty of moisture under the crop".

"We'd have gotten more yield if we put more nutrition into the crop. We applied 90 litres of fertiliser, about 20 to 22 units of urea. I heard about crops near Walgett that put on 150kg of urea and yielded over three tonnes."

Nick Deshon, Llanillo, Cumborah measured between 20mm and 40mm, with the lighter falls recorded on his farming country and the heavier on his "good goat country".

He said the rain was a welcome and early Christmas present as traffic through his goat depot had slowed to a halt.

"The abattoir at Bourke is saying they have enough to kill right up to Christmas, and this rain will give our country a real boost," Mr Deshon said.

"There's a lot of confidence in the market out here, and the rain will make it a better Christmas for us all."

Best Farming Systems Pty Ltd agronomist Kieran Knight, Wee Waa, said 23.5mm had been recorded in the district since Sunday.

"But there are forecasts of up to 70 on Thursday so that we may end up with some really good rain," Ms Knight said. "There's been a bit of a shift in the weather, and it would have been marvellous if it had fallen three months earlier.

"We've just put out a broadleaf knockdown spray to fallow some country for cereal and pulse crops next year, so if we get more rain, it'll be great."

Predictions of 50 to 100mm in the northwest of the state will boost optimism in some of the state's driest farming and pastoral land.

According to Tamworth-based storm chaser of more than 30 years, Dave Farrenden, a mix of troughs and upper lows, with high-pressure systems acting as blockers, was the key to the build-up of moisture across the northwest of the state, with predictions of around 80 mm towards the end of the week.

Mr Farrenden runs a Facebook page called Tamworth Regional Weather. and said he follows a number of different weather modelling sources, including the Bureau of Meteorology and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which he regards as the world's best modelling technology.

He said the forecast for Wednesday was for a mostly cloudy day, with a high to very high chance of widespread showers. Possibly severe storms are predicted for the Northwest Slopes and Plains.

He added that the chance of rain across the region was high with 80 to 100 per cent on the slopes, 70 to 100 pc on the plains, 80 to 100 pc on the Northern Tablelands and only 40 to 60 pc on the Upper Hunter.

"There's instability around until Sunday week (December 3), so there's a good chance of a lot more storms," Mr Farrenden said.

"We're still looking at El Nino conditions, but it can change things overnight when the storm season arrives.

"A very moist airstream will continue to create showers and storms daily across NSW. It's good to see farmers getting good rain, and it's a case of getting under the right storm."

Narromine-based agronomist Campbell Muldoon, Muldoon Patten Ag Consulting, said there had been disappointing measurements in the Narromine to Warren areas, with most falls under 10mm and one isolated storm of 100mm.

"The forecast indicates there may be some come further down from the north, and that would be good if it does," he said.

Greg Rummery, a Walgett agronomist, said falls of 10mm to 15mm were most common in his district, but forecasts for Thursday and Friday held the potential for 50mm to 100 mm to fall.

"The district is sweating on that rain; if it does come, there'll be some general relief. Then we'll see some dryland cotton go in and sorghum or summer forage crops being planted.

"The light country has responded well to the lighter falls, but it will fall over pretty quickly as well," Mr Rummery said.