The Bureau of Meteorology's official weather station at the Orange airport recorded 51.6mm in the 24 hour period up until 9am on Friday morning - making Thursday the city's wettest March day in eight years.

A torrential 109.6mm was recorded in Orange on March 1, 2013.

Just over 20mm of Thursday's total fell in an hour between 4.30pm and 5.30pm, with flash flooding reported across the city during that time.

The rain continued into the evening, with the 40mm mark passed at around 8pm. We then passed the 50mm mark at 8am on Friday morning.

Elsewhere around Orange, 30mm was recorded in the west of the city.

It's the first rainfall recorded in Orange this month, after 10 dry days to begin autumn in the colour city, however we've enjoyed above average rainfall to start the year with 145.6mm falling in February and 81.6mm in January.

After a slight dip, Orange's combined water storage levels are rising again - our water capacity is currently sitting at 60.77 per cent.

That number may continue to rise if the BoM's latest forecasts come to fruition, too.

There's a very high chance of more rain on Friday, before some respite on Saturday, and then the dark clouds are predicted to roll in on Sunday with a 90 per cent chance of rain. Up to 25mm is expected to fall.

The short-term outlook then points to partly cloudy days for the next week, with our top temperature in the next week Thursday's peak of 21 degrees Celcius.

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