Rainfall over the past month has brought the region relief, after drought-like conditions at the start of the year.
The picture painted by a Hawke's Bay Regional Council climate briefing yesterday was very different to one held last month - when a crowd heard groundwater and soil moisture levels in some parts of the region were at record low levels for January.
Yesterday the council's environmental scientists explained these levels were tracking upwards toward normal levels for February.
HBRC climate scientist Dr Kathleen Kozyniak explained February's rainfall was over 180 per cent of normal, with rain on the Heretaunga Plains a staggering 265 per cent of normal for February.
January's rainfall had only been a third of what was normally received region wide, meaning there had been a "massive jump" in soil moisture in places around the region.