SES Orange City unit commander, Inspector Rob Stevens was again shaking his head after a driver attempted to cross the bridge during Friday morning's early downpour.

"We're at the point, when the clouds come out we put wetsuits on because we know someone is going to get pulled out," Insp. Stevens said.

"People are just not taking notice. They drive in, the car konks out right in the middle of it ..."

He explained the bridge spans Blackman's Swamp Creek at its peak flow after collecting storm water from throughout Orange.

"It's essentially a focal point, anything from Dalton Street [to the bridge] is essentially all the water from Orange before it flows onto the First Crossing, out to Ophir and into the Macquarie River," he said.

He said the water over the road can quickly rise to three-quarters of a metre and it is fast moving and dangerous.

"It is very much flash flooding."

Apart from that rescue, Insp Stevens said SES staff were called to clear several trees that had fallen on roads but it was a relatively tame morning with about 10 call outs in the 12 hours before 10am on Friday.

Orange was soaked in the early hours of Friday with 64.2mm recorded at Orange Airport while residents in town reported between 50mm and 55mm.

Orange's long-term average for January is 64.3mm meaning the city experienced virtually a month's rainfall in one day.

Orange's wettest January on record was in 1978 when 291mm drenched the city.

Insp. Stevens said his teams were bracing for more rain on Friday with thunderstorms and between 20mm and 40mm predicted for today.

On Saturday there is a 60 per cent chance of between 5mm to 10mm.

"We've been warned Orange and Canowindra could get isolated falls today of around 60mm - it could be done and dusted or it could be on its way," he said.

"It's difficult to know, sometimes the Bureau [of Meteorology] is accurate down to the millimetre, sometimes it's way off but any indication they can give us is welcome."

While a windgust of around 41km/h was recorded at 12am on Friday, most were around 30km/h resulting in trees coming down on Cargo Road and Casey Street while Orange crews were also called to assist with clearing at Eugowra and Canowindra.

Insp. Stevens, who is also an instructor in swift-water rescue, will be heading to Penrith for a training course.

"It gives us a good opportunity to get into the water and refresh our skills," he said.

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