IT may only be January 20, but above average rainfall has already been recorded this month in Parkes and Forbes.
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Following many months of drought conditions and well below average rain, both towns are having a wetter that average January.
Parkes has received by far the most rain with 75.0 millimetres already recorded at the Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) weather station at Parkes Airport.
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This is well above the long-term January average of 61.5mm, and it's also the first above average rainfall month in more than a year.
In Forbes 36.6mm has been recorded at the BoM's weather station at the airport, which is above the long-term January average of 28.1mm.
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The last time Forbes recorded above average rainfall was in February 2019, when 85.8mm was recorded which was above the month's average of 48.4mm
Overnight rainfalls on Sunday helped top up the tally for both locations, with 11.8mm of rain recorded in Forbes and 4.0mm in Parkes.
Parkes and Forbes are the only two Central West locations to have recorded above average rainfall so far this month.
On Monday in Parkes a thunderstorm is possible along with a 40 per cent chance of rain followed by sunshine for the rest of the week.
While in Forbes the chance of rain on Monday is 50 per cent, with a slight chance of further rain on Thursday and Friday.