On Currandooley, which adjoins Lake George, grazier Pat Osborne said last week's storm was not as severe as a flash flood a week earlier which dumped 50mm of rain in half an hour.

''I was stuck down the bottom end [of the property] and couldn't get back. There was water everywhere,'' the 82-year-old farmer said.

The rain has raised spirits around the region and there's hope more is on the way, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting showers for Canberra this week and the possibility of significant rain for southern NSW on Friday.

Currandooley had another 50mm over three days last week and is awash with stories of floods, none better than 1864's, when Mr Osborne's grandfather, Harry, then a baby, was passed through a window into a waiting boat to escape flood waters.

The homestead has stood empty ever since. Mr Osborne said after long stints of dryness, when the lake re-filled fishermen caught so many redfin they nearly swamped their boat.

Yesterday he scanned Lake George with binoculars and not a drop of water was to be found.

The family has another property at Bombala, which has been entirely de-stocked because of the lack of feed.

Mr Osborne said aside from eliminating the risk of bushfire, summer rain wasn't helpful except for weeds.

If rain continued until autumn, it would replenish sub-soil moisture, and help wheat crops sown for winter fodder.

For more on this story, see today's Canberra Times.