Even with two weeks left, April has already proven one of the wettest on record for many locations - and a rainfall record-breaker for several. Figures showed that Warkworth, Whangaparaoa, Te Puke, Taupo and the Lower Retaruke Valley, along the Whanganui River, have already had their wettest April. Since the start of the month, those five saturated communities had respectively received 293mm (275 per cent of normal for the month), 265mm (376 per cent of normal), 445mm (310 per cent of normal), 219mm (323 per cent of normal) and 242mm (227 per cent of normal). It's already been the second wettest month on the books for Matamata, Martinborough and Ohakune, and the third wettest for Auckland (at North Shore), Rotorua, Hamilton (at Ruakura), Dannevirke and Akaroa. The deluges of April have also heavily contributed to what has been the wettest starts of the year for at least a dozen places.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 18, 2017 00:57 UTC