According to the Bureau of Meteorology [BOM], Bathurst received approximately 15 millimetres of rainfall from 9am Sunday to 9am Wednesday, and has predicted a further 15 to 30 millimetres to fall across Thursday and Friday.

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Despite the expected rain, SES Western Zone community capability officer David Rankine said the immediate risk of flooding is low, but stressed the SES is always on flood alert.

"We're always on flood alert, but there's no perceived issues of flooding from the BOM's perspective for the Macquarie River," Mr Rankine said.

"We'll see the river rise, but at the moment, the Bureau isn't suggesting it will get to flood proportions."

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However, Mr Rankine said isolated thunderstorms have the potential to change the flood narrative at short notice.

"We are expecting the best part of two weeks worth of ongoing rain, so if there's isolated thunderstorms within that footprint, it could add extra, unpredicted rainfall," he said.

"Thunderstorms with heavy downpours are pretty difficult to predict, and are isolated in terms of where that water might land."

The last time the Macquarie River broke its banks was on August 25, where the river reached a peak of 4.68 metres after 42.8 millimetres of rain had fallen across the preceding 24 hours.

Mr Rankine said its important for members of the community to be mindful of the weather over the next few weeks as storm season begins to enter full swing.'

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"We've slipped into a La Nina weather pattern, which is where the surface temperature of the Indian Ocean is warmer, resulting in more evaporation and more frontal systems across eastern Australia," he said.

"The SES typically has a weather briefing with BOM weekly on a Monday, but these briefings have extended to tri-weekly due to an increased need to keep a close eye on the weather.

"There will be thunderstorms coming through as we venture closer to summer, and because the catchment is so full and Chifley Dam is overflowing, it won't take much rain to see flooding events between now and Christmas."

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