Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall have hit the region hard this month as Tamworth wades through its wettest February in eight years.
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The downpours were more than drains could handle, causing chaos as water swallowed roads and inundated farm land for much of the past week.
By February 19, Tamworth airport clocked significantly higher rainfall for the month than previous years with 158.6mm in the gauge.
This is almost 12 times more than the figure for February 2019 when only 14mm was recorded - and less than many locals measured in their gauges in other parts of town.
It marks the wettest February since 2012, when Tamworth copped 257.6mm.
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The situation is similarly soggy for towns all over the north west.
Gunnedah has so far notched 130mm this month, compared to just 1.6mm last year; Quirindi has scored 106mm this February while it only received 2.4mm in 2019; and the Nundle village has had 145mm of rain this month compared to 22mm for February last year.
The official rainfall records from the BoM were vastly different for areas reasonably close together, showing how patchy the rain has been.
Residents also recorded different amounts in their gauges depending on their location around town.
The deluge brought struggling rivers bubbling back to life with the Peel River flowing through Tamworth with gusto once again.
An influx of water to the Namoi meant the river surged into Lake Keepit and brought the dam up to 7.6 per cent on Wednesday.
On January 1 this year, Lake Keepit was sitting at 0.61 per cent.
Rainfall struggled to find its way into Chaffey Dam with the current storage level sitting at 13.6 per cent, up from 13.5 per cent last week.
A storm brought gusty winds, rain, bolts of lightning and thunder loud enough to wake a number of residents in Tamworth in the early hours of Wednesday.
The forecast for Tamworth looks sunny for the next week.
Despite experiencing the wettest February in years, authorities have emphasised the drought is far from broken.
