Even after a decent fall of welcome rain, the glass is still half empty for much of Northland.
The weekend's rain turned some arid pastures green overnight and helped refill water tanks as well as raise stream levels, but the benefit will be minimal.
Rain fell over all of Northland, with a spread of totals from 10mm to 90.5mm on Saturday and Sunday. The heaviest fall of 90.5mm was at Touwai, Whangaroa Harbour.
The thirsty catchments in the Far North and Bay of Islands had a drink of 50mm-60mm, while the east coast south of the Bay of Islands to Mangawhai and Northland's west coast only received 10mm-30mm.
"Combined with the persistent winds, that amount will not alleviate the current dry ground conditions," Northland Regional Council water resources manager Jason Donaghy said.
The soil moisture deficit levels are still below average for all Niwa climate stations, excluding Kaitaia which has risen to above-average levels, Mr Donaghy said.
The rivers along the east coast from north of Whangarei to Mangawhai and from Dargaville south popped up after the rain but will be back to low flows in a week or two.
"The rain has definitely helped, but the benefits to the lower half of Northland will be minimal," Mr Donaghy said.
Okaihau dairy farmer Terence Brocx said the 55mm that fell in his area was "nowhere near enough" to replenish the grass, even though there was plenty of water in streams. Nor did it have much chance to seep into the ground.
"Some of it came down very, very heavy so it poured off and went straight into the streams. It'll put a green tinge on the paddocks for a while but it won't make a lot of difference."
Last week, Niwa predicted the rain due in the region in the weekend and the weather bomb that exploded over southern New Zealand would not be enough to dampen Northland's parched soil.
Yesterday Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said there was no real rain on the radar and he expected Northland's soil moisture to be back to very dry by the end of January.
After nearly two months without rain, Northland farmers have been forced to reduce stock numbers, and say they need at least another 50mm-100mm of rain before the end of January to get the grass growing.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has been watching the situation.
Niwa monitors soil moisture deficits and is developing a drought index to help identify when an area is in drought. The MPI will take the index and other criteria into account when considering if and what Government assistance is required.
There is possibility drought will be declared in Northland if the dry spell continues for another two to three weeks. If that happens, it will be the fifth drought in Northland in the past eight years.