Heavy rain over the weekend saw the Whanganui River come close to warning levels yesterday.
But the river peaked harmlessly at 8.6m at Pipiriki yesterday afternoon, and the peak was expected to reach the urban area in the early hours of this morning.
Just over 14mm of rain fell in Wanganui during Saturday.
Wanganui emergency manager Matthew Smith said civil defence staff monitored the river throughout the weekend.
He said the Wanganui District Council's infrastructure staff had been informed of the high river levels, as well as communities on the upper Whanganui River.
Yesterday afternoon at high tide the river began encroaching on the edge of Kowhai Park, but there was little other flooding around the city.
Mr Smith said the river peaked at Pipiriki at 8.6m around 2pm, and began falling after that.
"With no significant rain forecast it will keep falling. This amount of water will not cause issues in Wanganui city."
Mr Smith said civil defence staff would continue to monitor river levels.
Meanwhile, expected severe gales in Wanganui on Saturday did not eventuate, with the peak wind gust reaching just 78km/h and no damage reported.
Today's weather forecast is for occasional rain, with southeasterly winds and a high of 12C.