NSW Weather: Record breaking rain sees farmers praising 'liquid gold'

It is the coast's turn for a drenching after drought-hit areas of regional NSW welcomed record-breaking rainfalls in the past 24 hours.

Sydney is set for further falls through the night, before clearing Saturday morning.

Heavier rain will be concentrated in the north-east areas of the state.

However, Weatherzone told 9news.com.au that west of the Blue Mountains, rain had largely cleared save for some chance of isolated showers.

Along the coast from Illawarra northwards, falls of five to 15mm are expected, with isolated pockets of 20-25mm.

A gale warning is in place along the coast from Sydney to the Hunter region, with a hazardous surf warning also issued for parts of NSW.

Earlier, heavy rain battered large parts of the state with some outback areas breaking two-decade-old records for the biggest October deluge.

Three spots also recorded more rain in 24 hours than they’d had all year so far.

Broken Hill had more rain in the 24 hours of Wednesday into Thursday than the whole year combined, with just over 34.2mm of rain lashing the city.

It had had 31.7m so far this year.

At the airport, 30mm of rain was collected in a gauge in just 10 minutes at about 6.30pm on Wednesday night.

The village of Pooncarie on the Darling River had 53mm – and in the year so far it had only had 46.7mm in total, making it the highest daily rainfall for an October since records began 21 years ago. 

The nearby township of Ivanhoe near Griffith also broke an October daily rain record lasting 19 years, with 40.2mm falling.

Sydney has copped a deluge of over 77mm in parts over the past 24 hours.

However while many farmers were celebrating, much more is needed to break the drought.

Forecasters at the Bureau of Meteorology while said the inland west had by far the most significant and unusual rainfall, it won’t be enough.

“For most locations it won’t be enough, most need follow up rain,” Zhi-Weng Chua meteorologist told nine.com.au.

Farmer Sarah Ashlee-Jade Johnson who lives 80km out of Bourke, shared a raincloud photo.

She said: "It looked really good but we didn’t get much out of it."

Nikki Jane shared a picture of a young girl in gumboots stomping in a puddle, while Sue Brassington from Eumungerie, NSW said: “We are very grateful for this liquid gold. We received 33mm.

“Let’s hope and pray this is the beginning of breaking this horrendous drought.”

Meanwhile a five-day-old alpaca in Queensland got a soaking for the first time in Oakey near Toowoomba according to owner Krystle Lindsay.

However, some areas which desperately need rain such as Tamworth and Armidale got little or none.

And while showers will hang around into next week, the deluge is largely over as the low moves north east.

“We’re not expecting significant rainfall. On Tuesday we might see some rainfall but it’s not on the same scale,” said Chua.

Overnight across NSW, the SES reported it has had 129 calls for help for rain-related damage.

Flash flooding hit some areas including Rushcutters Bay.

Sydney’s Observatory Hill registered 44.4mm over the past 24 hours, with Olympic Park getting 77.2 and and Parramatta getting 70mm.

Bankstown received 50.6mm and Terrey Hills got 57.8mm.

Further west, Dubbo recorded 45.2mm, Norah Head 48mm, Newcastle got 24.2mm while Wollongong had 33.8mm. 

Friday’s forecast for NSW is showers and storms for the east, windy on the coast.

It will be drier and sunnier over western and central parts.

RAINFALL TOTALS

9am Thursday-9am Friday

Sydney Observatory Hill 44.4

Sydney Olympic Park 77.2

Bankstown 50.6mm

Penrith 28.6

Grafton 11.5mm

Coffs Harbour Airport 13.4mm

Cessnock Airport 23mm

Gosford 31.6mm

Norah Head 48mm

Kiama 45.4mm

Bathurst Airport 11.2mm

Orange Airport 24.2mm

Dubbo 45.2mm

Forbes 26mm