SYDNEY, Australia — Rural firefighters and farmers, as well as just about everyone in Australia’s largest city, rejoiced Friday at the arrival of something not seen for months: heavy downpours of that magnificent gift called rain.

Thunderstorms hit Sydney and a wide swath of the surrounding area, including parts of the north coast of New South Wales that have been burning for months, with more rain expected through the weekend.

“It’s a relief,” said Ray White, a group captain for volunteer fire brigades north of Sydney, where serious fires have been burning since July. “With the rain, we’ve pretty well got all the fires here contained at the moment, mate. Hopefully they’ll be looking to go out in the not too distant future.”

The amount of rain varied wildly on Friday, from a few drops to more than four inches. It was not enough to end the country’s bush-fire crisis — dozens of fires farther south are still out of control.