HUNDREDS of lightning strikes lit up the sky overnight with rain falling across much of the region.
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Overnight, 488 lightning strikes were recorded within a 30 kilometre radius of Orange, with 85 of those hitting the ground.
In Bathurst 79 were recorded in the 30km radius with 18 hitting the ground, Parkes had 34 strikes (six hit the ground), while there were none recorded in Dubbo by the Bureau of Meteorology.
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Overnight rainfall was concentrated across the eastern parts of the region with Bathurst recording the most at 13.4 millimetres by 7.30am on Thursday.
However, a property owner at Mount Rankin, north-west of Bathurst, reported receiving 55mm of rain from 11.30pm until 4am.
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Lithgow received 11.2mm of rain, there was 8.0mm in Young, while many other towns received much less.
Orange had 6.2mm by 7.30am on Thursday, Cowra had 3.2mm and a little rain was also recorded in Parkes (2.6mm), Forbes (1.2mm), Dubbo (0.8mm) and Mudgee (0.6mm).
Sunny weather is predicted across the Central West on Thursday before showers return on Friday and Saturday.
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