"The most significant rain in a long time" is how Cunnamulla grazier Mike Keane described the 160 millimetre deluge he received on Sunday afternoon.
So quickly did rain fall in the area that locals reported Cuttaburra Creek, south of Cunnamulla, was flowing backwards as channels failed to cope with the sudden inflow.
Social media was flooded with images of the south-west Queensland township awash with a mini-flood when clouds opened up in the early afternoon, delivering around 170mm in a few hours, which saw kayaks and boogie boards dusted off.
The official post office recording was 178.2mm, but Sylvia Roberts told the Who Got the Rain Facebook page she had measured 191.5mms from Saturday night while Damon Mingay said he'd tipped out 154mm.
He's lived in the community for 11 years and said he hadn't seen that much rain in that time.
"It was heavy rain for about two hours then decent steady rain for a couple hours after that," he said.
On the Weir Road, Anna Gook post a fall of 175mm.
Elders agent Danny Duff said like all storms, it delivered a patchwork of results in rain gauges, from 125mm to 250mm around town.
"It started at about 2pm and when I measured it at about 4.30pm, we'd had 117mm," he said. "There was a lot of lightning and thunder and - I didn't think there'd been a lot of wind but it shifted the poly tanks here in the yard round a bit."
Rain had been forecast but locals weren't expecting those amounts.
"Out of town, Toompine only had 5mm but Waihora, between Eulo and Cunnamulla had about 90mm, and Glentucket, towards the border, had 100mm," Mr Duff said.
"Some black soil places had cracks that will have swallowed the rain right up, but north of town has been getting good falls.
"Nardoo had 280mm all up last month and now they've had 70mm on top of that - that country will be looking exceptional."
One of the black soil properties bearing the brunt of the cloudburst was Pine Ridge, south of town, which owner Mike Keane said had received 160mm, including 125mm in two hours.
"The country was dry so I'm expecting a bit of scouring," he said. "It probably won't be pretty but you've just got to put up with that," he said.
From October 2022 to this last weekend, his biggest fall of rain had been 18mm and he'd been feeding cotton seed to his sheep.
"This is our most significant fall for a long time - this much rain in one hit is pretty unheard of," he said.
Mr Keane wasn't prepared to bring his cattle on agistment around Hungerford back home on the strength of the fall.
"You don't put cattle on mud - we'll have to see what happens first," he said.
At Waihora, situated between Eulo and Cunnamulla, the Campbell family had been cutting scrub for goats when they received 92mm.
"It was getting a bit doom and gloom - we're mainly mulga country here and while we had rain in November and December, it followed three months of no rain at all, and the two weeks at the end of the year were so hot and dry it meant the feed was drying right off," Justine Campbell said.
She was surprised to find the rain approaching from the north, saying they usually got their rain from the south west.
Their long-term average is 300mm and Ms Campbell said Sunday's rain would likely set them up for the year ahead, providing they didn't have a long hot summer.
"We're very happy at the moment - we just need markets to pick up now," she said.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
