Widespread thunderstorms and heavy showers have continued to move across eastern parts of the nation bringing the heaviest September rainfall on record to inland hubs. After thunderstorms brought heavy rain and strong wind gusts to inland parts of South Australia and New South Wales yesterday (as seen in Ben McBurney's article - http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/rain-and-storms-racing-east-across-southeastern-australia/147842), the region of instability has continued to spread east. A deep low pressure trough and embedded low perpetuated widespread showers and thunderstorms over New South Wales' Upper Western, Lower Western and the Central West Slopes and Plains overnight. To 9am today, Coonamble picked up their heaviest September rain in seventeen years worth of records with 52mm, which also made it the heaviest total for any month since January 2012. Almost 33,000 lightning strikes have been recorded since 4pm yesterday (as of 2pm) within an 800 kilometre radius of Cobar (including some but not all of the lightning strikes in Queensland). Further south, parts of the Riverina and South West Slopes and Plains received healthy totals among the main embedded low. Despite lightning remaining largely absent due to the drier and cooler air, Hume Reservoir still managed to pick up just over 49mm, the heaviest September rain since 2005. Tocumwal Airport also saw their heaviest September total since 1985 with 34mm. These storms largely turned into showers early this morning before firing up once again over the North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains and Northern Rivers where a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for damaging winds. This warning has now been lifted, however some localised cells moved over the Sydney Basin and Illawarra Coast bringing brief heavy showers and small hail. The potential for storms will steadily diminish this afternoon and evening as the main region of low pressure migrates offshore.