Summer storms soak NSW
Orange is already having its wettest February in seven years after heavy rain and thunderstorms soaked much of NSW during the last 24 hours.
A stream of tropical moisture interacting with a cold front and low pressure trough produced a broad band of rain and storms over NSW on Monday into Tuesday morning. Underneath a blanket of thick clouds, rain affected almost every district in the state.
At one stage, a long line of thunderstorms was stretching between the Victorian and Queensland borders. These state-wide storms produced rainfall totals of 20-40 mm from Bombala in the south to Brewarrina in the north.
Image: Combined satellite image and lightning strike data showing storms stretching across NSW on Monday evening.
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, just two days into the month.
Amid the prolific thunderstorms, over 113,000 lightning strikes were detected within a 200 km radius of Orange between midday and midnight on Monday.
Some of these storms hit the Sydney basin on Monday night, delivering 46mm in Penrith and 17mm in the city. For Penrith, this was the highest daily total in six months.
Showers and thunderstorms will continue to affect eastern and northern NSW on Wednesday, with drier weather returning to the west.
However, the respite will be short-lived, with more heavy rain and severe thunderstorms likely to spread over the state between Thursday and Saturday.