Farmers in drought-stricken NSW are celebrating the arrival of much-needed rain, with as much as 100mm falling in isolated parts of the state's west yesterday.

A broad, slow-moving trough moving south from Central Queensland is responsible for the downpour, combining forces with a series of cold fronts to bring rain across a swath of New South Wales.



Bourke collected 28.4mm to 9am yesterday, but the rain really stepped up in the afternoon after thunderstorms hit.

From 9am to 7pm, 66mm had fallen, the best rain since January 2012. More than 25mm fell in the 30 minutes from 3pm to 3.30pm.

The rain brought sweet relief for NSW locals battling the drought. (9News)

One man celebrates the downpour with vigour. (9News)

Residents welcomed the wet weather , which was the first rain the town has seen since July and among its highest falls all year.

Further south, Cobar recorded its second-highest fall of 2019, with 27 millimetres falling.

In the village of Wanaaring, residents poured 38mm out of the gauge yesterday morning - their highest daily total in nearly two years.

Elsewhere, Noona recorded 23mm.

Wagga Wagga recorded 25mm of rain yesterday - their highest single-day total since May. (9News)

A farmer from Coonamble celebrates as the heavens open up. (Supplied)

A young Coonamble resident celebrates a rare sight - puddles. (9News)

Diana Eadie, a severe weather meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, predicted up to 100 millimetres in some isolated locations in the state.

But she warned for people to not get their hopes up as storm-based rainfall can be "hit and miss".

Rain is largely yet to materialise across the central west slopes and plains.

The town of Walgett, which is currently enforcing level five water restrictions, received about 2 millimetres early yesterday morning.

The Riverina received between 10 and 15mms, with Wagga Wagga picking up the highest total in the district with 25mm, their highest one-day total since May.

Decent falls were also recorded in parts of the Southwest Slopes, Central West Slopes and Plains and the Snowy Mountains.

The showers settled dust storms that yesterday hit regional NSW towns.

Images captured by Georgie Fyfe and shared online show a slow moving wall of dust blanket the town of Lake Cargelligo.

A wall of dust moves across Lake Cargelligo in central New South Wales. (Georgie Fyfe)

NSW firefighters were also looking forward to showers as they work to contain bush and grass fires throughout the state.

The state's fire danger ratings will improve somewhat today as showers offer firefighters some reprieve.

The rain was expected to help clear out a persistent smoke haze that has affected Sydney and other parts of the state, NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said.

"It looks like it's not as much as initially forecast but it will give us a little bit of reprieve from the fire dangers we've seen over the last few days," he said.

"We could see some very hot and windy conditions towards the end of next week."

In Wagga Wagga, resident Tom Burge used the welcome shower to wash his car - something he's been unable to do due to tight water restrictions. (9News)

Patchy rain has swept across much of the state. (9News)

Despite yesterday's showers, it looks set to be a dry summer ahead, according to the BOM's latest outlook for New South Wales.

A strong, positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) to the west, a negative Southern Annular Mode (SAM) in the south and a late monsoon in the north are combining to ward off showers for much of the state.

This means the strong rainfall required to lessen the grip of the drought is unlikely to come this summer.

The low pressure trough responsible for the rain has shifted eastwards, spreading areas of rain, showers and storms to the eastern half of the state.

Sydney is facing possible thunderstorms today with a top of 24 degrees, as is Melbourne for the traditional Melbourne Cup parade.

It will reach just 18 degrees in Victoria's capital, while Brisbane could also see thunderstorms and a top of 29 degrees.

Canberra (maximum of 23) and Perth (25) will be sunnier while Darwin (33), Hobart (15) and Adelaide (19) are expecting rain.

A trough will develop over western parts of WA this coming week that will drag a very hot airmass towards the coast.

Port Hedland has a high chance of exceeding 40 degrees every day this coming week (the average is around 36 degrees for this time of year), while Exmouth is looking to turn recent below average maximum temperatures into well-above average maxima.

November is running about four degrees below average in Exmouth (average maximum is 35 degrees), however temperatures reaching or exceeding 40 degrees are possible from tomorrow to Friday.