Australia Weather News

Graziers across the far west of New South Wales are celebrating after widespread storms doubled yearly rainfall tallies in just two days.

It has helped end a highly anxious time for many in the region who had been destocking or moving livestock to greener pastures after a dry and difficult start to the year.

'Dancing in the mud'

Terry Smith from Scarsdale and Waterbag Stations said the rain was a godsend after a recent dust storm.

"[Dust storms] tend to strip the country pretty quick, a couple more days like that and we would have been back to where we started," he said.

Roads were closed all over the region, including the Silver City Highway between Broken Hill and Tibooburra.

Staff at Cameron Corner Store welcomed the break after a busy month of tourists heading north for the Birdsville races.

Store manager Kate Osman measured 44 millimetres of rain.

She said the timing could not have been better, right after their busiest week of the year.

"The caretakers at the corner store are pretty happy to stop and catch their breath," she said.

Ms Osman said her brother, Fred Osman, who ran cattle at Omicron Station about 40 kilometres from Cameron Corner, was celebrating too.

"I was up there last week, I was looking around thinking, what are the cattle eating?" she said.

"I reckon Fred and his wife will be out there dancing in the mud."

Joy spreads over the border

Just over the border in South Australia, Jenny Treloar reported 23mm at Wiawera Station near Olary.

"It's a wonderful morning," she said.

"It sounded like the roof was going to collapse, the dogs all hid under the kitchen table."

Her son Andy, at Tikalina Station near Coburn, received 31mm, nearly doubling his yearly total, and just in time.

"It's been a rubbish year to be truthful," he said.

"This will fill the dams up, and most of our dams will last 18 months or even up to three years."

Jack Anderson at Mt Stuart Station near Tibooburra recorded 61mm in two days, after just 2mm all year.

Even with the power out, he was celebrating.

"We had our guys full on Monday night after that rain," he said.

"Today I might just light a fire and try to keep warm, get a couple of shed jobs done."

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted rain would continue throughout spring, with a 60 to 80 per cent chance of above-average falls for the region.