A storm that lit up the night sky "like a Christmas tree", putting a couple of thousand homes in the dark, brought with it a good drenching on some parts of the Parkes Shire on Monday.
After 25.4mm of morning rain - 10mm falling within 21 minutes after 10am - a lightning and thunderstorm with heavy rains returned about 10pm that night.
The day's total reached 37.8mm an hour and a half later, the additional 12.4mm coming with the late night storm.
The Parkes Airport recorded 38mm all together by 5.30am Tuesday morning.
While not as severe in Parkes as initially forecast the storm did cause a bit of havoc with Parkes' electricity network, lightning striking a pole to blame for a power outage to about 2000 homes and businesses.
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Some residents even heard and witnessed the contact, sharing it on the Parkes Community Noticeboard Facebook page.
"Something was definitely hit I heard it," one person said.
"Transformer on Woodward and East intersection has blown," another wrote.
East Street resident Lorraine Wooldridge said "I’m in East Street and omg (sic) it made an enormously big bang, my place lit up like Xmas (sic) tree".
Essential Energy crews were dispatched when the the power outage occurred, with the electricity network protection equipment kicking-in automatically, switching power off to the 2000 homes and businesses for safety about 10.07pm.
"On arrival, crews identified lightning had contacted a pole on the corner of East and Woodward streets, causing damage to network components," an Essential Energy spokesperson said.
"After ensuring it was safe to do so, the damaged section was isolated and power was restored to most customers by 11pm via an alternate supply."
Crews worked to repair the damage, restoring power to the remaining 28 customers around 12.20am.
"The public is reminded to always stay at least eight metres away from fallen powerlines or damaged electricity equipment and to call Essential Energy immediately on 13 20 80 or Triple-0 if the situation is life threatening," the spokesperson said.
"Essential Energy thanks customers for their understanding and patience as crews worked to assess damage and restore power for customers as quickly and safely as possible."
