Rain and thunderstorms are spreading across New South Wales today and will reach southern Queensland and by mid-week, giving some places their best rain in several months.

A complex series of events is unfolding across eastern Australia, drenching different states at different times over the course of the next week.

A complex low pressure system and two associated troughs will be responsible for soaking NSW over the next three days. Sunday and Monday will see the heaviest and most widespread falls over central and northern parts of the state, bringing widespread totals of 40-90mm by the start of Tuesday, the best falls since autumn for most areas. While rain will clear much of the inland by Tuesday, the coast will continue to be soaked, particularly between the Illawarra and the Hunter where there could be further falls of 25-50mm.

Lighter falls will also reach into QLD on Monday and Tuesday, in the form of showers and thunderstorms, which could become severe. Severe thunderstorms are also likely over northern NSW over these two days.

A follow up trough and associated low will bring further rain from Wednesday until Friday.

This system will focus largely on southern QLD and northern NSW, where widespread falls of 20-50mm are likely.

There will also be a secondary focus over central and eastern Victoria, which could see widespread totals of 15-30mm, however parts of Gippsland are a chance of seeing much more the low lingers close to the coast.

Looking further ahead, there are some indications of even more rain next weekend – quite a turnaround from the recent month long bout of dry.

– Weatherzone.com.au