A trough of low pressure was moving across central NSW early in the afternoon, with a severe thunderstorm warning issued for people in parts of Hunter, Mid North Coast, Central Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains and Northern Tablelands Forecast Districts.

The storm will hopefully bring more welcome rain after good totals earlier this month.

The recent rain helped to well-replenish the Hunter’s dam levels. Two rain events between October 4 and 15 helped top up the region’s water storage levels from 78.1 per cent to 86.9 per cent.

Chichester Dam has been at capacity for almost two weeks, while Grahamstown Dam has risen more than eight per cent during the same timeframe.

And hopefully that’s set to improve further, with heavy rainfall predicted to lash the Hunter on Wednesday evening and into Thursday.

But Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Simon Grainger said while there had been some “significant rain events” in inland NSW and storms along the NSW coast, it would require “more than a single rain event to remove the most serious rainfall deficiencies”.

“Different areas will require different amounts of rainfall depending on how serious the rainfall deficiency is,” he said.

“In general, above-average rainfall (rainfall in the top 30 per cent of past totals) over a three-month period is required to remove the serious rainfall deficiencies that have accumulated over the last six-to-nine months.​”

He said the outlook suggested the Hunter was likely to see average to below-average rainfall in the coming three months and that most of NSW would see above-average temperatures in the same period.

Hunter Water also warned that despite the good storage totals, warm weather could change that.

“The prolonged dry weather experienced in recent months has shown that our storages can change quickly,” a Hunter Water spokesperson said.

“Hunter Water is encouraging everyone not to be complacent with their water use.

“Simple water wise behaviours at home like reducing time in the shower to four minutes, watering the garden before 10am and after 4pm to avoid the hottest part of the day, and using a trigger nozzle on the hose can all make a big difference.”

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