"We had 51mm up until early Sunday morning. That's only half of what we need, but it's better than nothing," she said.
In Dannevirke, light showers have brought between 2mm and 4mm of rain, with temperatures dropping to a chilly 13C on Sunday.
However, it's still too early to lift fire restrictions, Paddy Driver, the principal rural fire officer for the Tararua District Council, told the Dannevirke News.
"The fire index is coming down slowly, but when we have a hot day it shoots up again," he said. "Our last hot day was a stinking 28C."
With a restricted permit required and fire season still in place, Mr Driver said the public had played their part. "They've been brilliant," he said.
"On the whole, everyone has been well behaved in sticking to the rules.
"We've only had one incident where people didn't comply with their permit and failed to scrap a fire break around their burn-off. The fire got away and burned out a paddock, but the emergency services weren't required."
Mr Driver said with the light rain some green grass was starting to come through again, but he's urging residents to remain vigilant and comply with the fire restrictions.
The MetService is predicting a maximum day time temperature of 25C today, down to 10C overnight, but a few showers are forecast for tomorrow, along with a southerly wind change.
