Rain and storms have swept through inland parts of NSW bringing some of the heaviest rain of the year. In the Central West Slopes and Plains, Mudgee picked up 37mm to 9am, the heaviest rain since 2013 and heaviest May rain in 3 years. Falls at Mudgee became heavy early this morning with storms as 13mm fell in an hour. Nearby, Forbes and Cowra recorded 23mm and 27mm respectively, the heaviest rain since April and heaviest May rain in three years. For Forbes this was the first substantial rainfall for almost a month, topping up dams and providing much needed moisture to the soil. Further south, Khancoban recorded 27mm, the heaviest day of rain since January. Canberra picked up 9mm, just the second rain day in three weeks, taking the May total to 11mm, just a quarter of the long term average. Amongst the Snowys, heavy falls at Perisher Valley, 31mm, and Thredbo Top Station, 30mm, did not convert into a solid dump of snow as the temperature remained above freezing overnight. As a result much of last weeks snowfall has been washed away. A band of thunderstorms moving across the state caused quite the light show with over 70,000 lightning strikes. Most of these occurred over southern and central parts of the state. A low pressure trough moving across the state was the reason for the rain and storms. This afternoon thundery showers will spark up again over northern parts of NSW. On Thursday, a low will form over the Tasman bringing gusty southerly winds and showers over southern parts of the state. An upper level trough will bring rain and storms to northern parts of the state.