The Sydney region has been lashed with rain this week but the parts of NSW in desperate need of good falls to extinguish fires, ease drought and fill dams received little.
Sydney recorded almost double the monthly average rainfall over four days, with 112mm falling at Sydney Observatory Hill, well above the 67.8mm average for September.
Mangrove Mountain on the Central Coast collected the most rain, with 156mm over four days, which is well above the 62.5mm average.
But Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Helen Reid says the catchment for Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main reservoir, received only 30-40mm, and even less fell in drought-stricken areas further west.
"All of NSW is requiring rainfall but over the western side of the ranges, there's very little rainfall in the gauges," Ms Reid told AAP.
"Dubbo only had 9mm and Dubbo is quite indicative of how little actually fell on the western side of the Great Dividing Range."
Ms Reid also warns Sydneysiders that despite the rain across the region, they still need to be conscious of their water use.
Warragamba Dam is at 50.4 per cent capacity and despite the rain has dropped by 0.1 per cent since last week.
Greater Sydney's combined dam levels are at 49.3 per cent, up 0.2 per cent since last week.
"The rainfall across the catchment was not nearly as heavy as that in the city or the coastal strip," a spokesman for Water NSW told AAP.
"It has had no significant impact on storage."
He said the most important impact of the rain was wetting the catchment areas.
"This rainfall, however modest, increases the likelihood of runoffs and inflows from following rain events reaching the dams."
Australian Associated Press
