Rain very welcome but not enough

Steady rainfall finally broke the "big dry" in Wairarapa yesterday but was not enough to ease fears of drought.
Met Service forecaster Oliver Druce said light and patchy rain fell on Tuesday although "quite a substantial amount" hit the ground in the region yesterday.
For the 24 hours from noon Tuesday there was 30mm of rain measured in Masterton and 31mm at Ngawi, Mr Druce said, although a reading taken at Nireaha under the Tararua foothills recorded 103mm in the same period.
The average December rainfall is 55mm.
He said although rainfall yesterday was steady it was not expected to last beyond about noon today despite cloud and lower temperatures. "I expect the rain was welcome and even though it's the right sort of rain too nice and steady without being too heavy which lets it soak in it is just for a day and that's it."
Rainfall recorded at stations throughout the region in November hovered at about half that which fell in the same period last year, with Carterton receiving the lowest recorded levels in 46 years.
High rain-bearing cloud moving to the northwest is responsible for the rainfall yesterday, Mr Druce said, although the La Nina pattern still holds sway on the East Coast.