Cloudburst shows silver lining

Heavy swells attracted hundreds of surfers to North Shore beaches yesterday. Picture / Richard Robinson

A sodden Anzac Day was promised and that's what was delivered for most of the North Island yesterday.

"The whole country got at least a bit of rain at some stage," said MetService forecaster Chris Noble.

Oteha Valley Rd and Link Drive on Auckland's North Shore were closed for several hours after drains failed to cope with the deluge.

A frontal band of heavy rain moved south from Northland overnight, drenching Whangaparaoa with 74mm of rain in the 12 hours to around midday and 90mm in the Warkworth area.

The storm also bought heavy surf to Auckland's East Coast Bays, and waves of up to 2.4m further north.

Orewa Surf Life Saving Patrol club captain Mark McCarthny reckoned waves at the beach were between 1m and 1.5m. "There's got to be a real weather system happening for it to reach in here and it's definitely up at the moment. It was supposed to be a lot bigger from Goat Island north, so places like Mangawhai and Pakiri would have been spectacular."

Auckland had 55mm of rain in the 24 hours to 6pm last night - more than half the April average of 93mm.

It stopped briefly as the dawn service was about to begin at the Domain but bucketed down as guests walked into the parade ground and continued throughout the shortened service.

The rain brought welcome relief to farmers in dry parts of Otago, but was not falling where power company Meridian Energy needs it. The key hydro lakes, Tekapo and Pukaki, have seen inflows in recent days, "but not in a way that's going to make a difference", spokesman Alan Seay said. "We need a lot more of the same."