Yesterday afternoon's rain and cooler temperatures were a welcome relief to the week-long run of temperatures in the mid-30s and browning lawns and gardens.

The rainfall totals were a lot higher than forecast with Lismore receiving 59mm in two hours between 5:30pm and 7:30pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology says more rain can be expected today with a range of 7mm to 30mm with a maximum of only 22 degrees. That should be enough to cool houses down before the next run of hot summer weather which begins on Christmas Day.

Kate Doyle from The Bureau said the amount of rainfall depends on storm activity.

"Potentially stormy conditions are set to linger through until Christmas as humid air is feeding into a trough over the region while another trough deepens further west. So, today (Friday) and Saturday are currently looking like the wettest days but totals will be largely dependent on if you manage to find yourself underneath the storm over the next few days, over the weekend and into the beginning of next week."

Some people criticise The Bureau for not being able to forecast storm activity and the rainfall associated with it. Kate explained it is due to the volatile conditions.

"We've got a fair bit of instability around, and then the exact place where those storms then form is always a bit difficult to pick down exactly. But we do certainly have the storm team watching and keeping an eye on those storms as they do form. So, warnings will continue to be issued over the weekend and through into Christmas. So, we are certainly continuing to keep an eye on the situation as we go over the next week."

The cooler conditions are thanks to a wind change from the warm north to north/westerly winds to east to south/easterly winds thanks to the trough that's pushed through over the last few days.

"We are expecting the more mild conditions to continue into the beginning of next week. Christmas Day on Monday, we'll start to see those temperatures warm up again, 33 degrees on Monday, and then we are expecting to warm up as we go through into next week as those winds start to come from the north again."