Riverina catchments on flood watch ahead of weekend rain

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released a flood watch bulletin for the state's south west and central west catchments on Friday morning ahead of a predicted barrage of rain arriving in the afternoon.

Flooding is possible in the Tumut, Upper Murray, Bell and Belubela rivers from Saturday into Sunday.

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"Severe thunderstorms are a risk today through parts of NSW, heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts the most likely phenomena," BoM NSW said.

"We may see supercells develop around the Riverina and South West Slopes."

A trough sitting over the western parts of NSW is set to move east ahead of an approaching low and cold front. The weather system is expected to bring "unsettled weather".

"Showers and thunderstorms are expected in the central, western and south eastern districts from Friday, possibly severe with locally heavy falls," the BoM said.

"Catchments likely to be affected by flooding are moderately wet."

Wagga is expected to receive between 20 and 35 millimetres of rain on Friday in storms due to hit in the afternoon, before another potential 30 millimetres on Saturday.

Damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail are possible in the predicted storms, BoM meteorologist Helen Kirkup said, with flash flooding possible.

Minor to moderate flooding is expected for the Tumut River catchment, while the Murrumbidgee River to Wagga and Mirrool Creek catchments are likely to be affected by minor flooding.

Those living or working along rivers and streams should monitor the latest forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground in the event flooding, the BoM said.

A severe weather warning remains in place for parts of the South West Slopes and Snowy Mountains districts, for blustery winds across southern ranges and slopes.

Damaging winds with peak gusts of more than 90km/h are predicted to develop from Friday afternoon. Khancoban, Selwyn and Cabramurra are included in the warning area.