NSW is set to receive some of its best rain in months as the downpour across the state is expected to further quench the bushfires on Friday.
Sydney is expected to receive 10-25 mms while up to 50mm are forecast for parts of the state along with thunderstorms.
The Northern Tablelands, Northern Slopes, Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Hunter are all expected to receive significant downpours.
Falls of up to 50mm would be the state's most significant rainfall since September last year.
Rain is also expected to continue falling into the weekend and next week.
The NSW Rural Fire Service on Thursday welcomed the rain but warned it wasn't the end of the bushfire crisis.
Late on Thursday night there were 81 bushfires burning - down from 88 just 24 hours earlier - after significant rain aided firefighters and gave them favourable conditions to strengthen containment lines.
On Thursday, there were still 1700 firefighters on the ground battling fires.
"Relief is here for a number of firefighters working across NSW," the RFS said on Twitter.
"Although this rain won't extinguish all fires, it will certainly go a long way towards containment."
The Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday night issued severe wind and thunderstorm warnings for many regions in the state.
Wind gusts of 92.6kmh at Parkes Airport, in Central West NSW, were recorded on Thursday afternoon.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain are predicted to bring flash-flooding and damaging winds to several areas including Sydney, Port Macquarie, Taree, Armidale, Orange, Canberra, Goulburn and Tamworth on Thursday night.
