Rainfall in some parts of Hawke's Bay this week was the heaviest in more than 20 years, according to regional council figures.
Falls of over 400mm were recorded at several sites monitored by the council, with a particular boon for the Te Pohue area where the rainfall of 404mm in six days was about 40 per cent of the year.
It compared with 685mm which had been recorded from January 1 to the end of last week, and the September rainfall at the station is the highest for the month since 1994.
The heaviest rainfall this week was at the Ngahere Station where 476mm was recorded from Saturday to yesterday, while at Pukeorapa Station, near Nuhaka in Northern Hawke's Bay, 439mm was recorded.
It is on average one of the wettest areas in Hawke's Bay, with mean annual rainfall of 2684mm, the volume has contributed to the heaviest September rainfall in the area since 1996.