Injured toddler's ordeal highlights risks of weather radar blackspot

Teddy Pluckrose broke his leg but his family could not get him safely to hospital for more than 24 hours. (Supplied: Jess Pluckrose)

It was late evening and the Pluckrose family was on Marrapina Station in far west New South Wales, 160 kilometres from their nearest hospital, when two-year-old Teddy suffered a suspected broken leg.

Teddy (with older sister Gemma) was eventually too uncomfortable to sit in his car seat after several hours. (Supplied: Jess Pluckrose)

A multi-day, record-breaking rain event meant the roads were wet and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) was unable to land nearby.

Teddy's mother, Jess Pluckrose, made the difficult decision to postpone the drive to Broken Hill hospital until next morning when it would be light and the roads had some time to dry.

Local weather apps indicated the worst of the rain had passed.

"We left quite early in the morning and we hadn't been on the road very long and the rain really set in," Ms Pluckrose said.

"We kept pushing towards Broken Hill in the hope that we could make it and the further we got down the road, the heavier the rain got.

"There was just no indication of what we were driving through at that point by reading weather maps."

The Pluckrose family decided to turn around after making limited progress along the mostly flooded roads. (Supplied: Jess Pluckrose)

Several hours down the road, the family was forced to turn back and wait until next day for Teddy to be flown to hospital, where his broken leg was confirmed and treated.

Months on, the memory of the ordeal remains and Ms Pluckrose is certain she would have done things differently if rain forecasts had been more accurate.

Jess Pluckrose said she would have got Teddy (left) to hospital sooner if the rain forecast was more accurate. (Supplied: Jess Pluckrose)

"Looking back on it now, we would have been better off going to town in the dark, but without that knowledge we couldn't make that decision," she said.

Fellow pastoralist Lachlan Gall, from Langawirra Station, said short-term radar coverage was a frustration in the region.

Most of Australia's weather data, including forecasting, is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which is informed by a range of tools, including satellites and weather stations.

The current radar network, which includes Doppler radars, does not cover much of far western NSW. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)

Among its arsenal are a network of 69 Doppler weather radars across the country, which record rain events up to 300km away, updating every few minutes.

Mr Gall has spent almost a d