A FLOOD watch has been issued as the state prepares for a deluge on Friday - but it doesn't yet include the inland-flowing rivers.
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The Upper Coxs River, north of Lithgow, is the closest river to Bathurst listed on the flood watch issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday afternoon, April 3 ahead of the big rain.
Potential flooding on the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers, though, does have the potential to cut off Bathurst's access to the Sydney metropolitan area via the Great Western Highway, Bells Line of Road or both.
The bureau says a coastal trough is forecast to deepen and potentially develop into a low pressure system between Friday and Saturday.
The trough is forecast to move towards the South Coast by late Saturday, bringing widespread rainfall.
At this stage, Bathurst is forecast to receive up to 10 millimetres on Thursday and up to 40 millimetres on Friday.
Move a little east, though, and the forecast changes dramatically: 10 to 20mm on Thursday for Lithgow and then 40 to 80mm on Friday.
If Bathurst does get 40mm in a day, it will be the most in a 24-hour period recorded at the Bathurst Airport weather station since early February.
Troubled road
TRANSPORT for NSW will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the big rain looming for the Blue Mountains.
Bells Line was closed for weeks on end in March and April 2021 due to landslips caused by heavy rain, while traffic on the Blackheath side of Mount Victoria on the Great Western Highway was reduced to a single lane for more than a fortnight after a landslip in early March 2022.
Lanes have also been closed on Victoria Pass due to slope failures in March 2022 and July 2022 and repair work on both is due to start later this year.
