Rain fell in Queenstown early yesterday evening, but ''minimal'' rainfall elsewhere in Otago has done nothing to lessen concerns about looming drought or to reduce high rural fire risks.
MetService meteorologist Nicole Ranger said 2.2mm of rain fell in Queenstown between 5pm and 7pm yesterday, but there had been no rain or ''very, very minimal'' rainfall in much of the rest of Otago yesterday.
Commenting about 7pm, Ms Ranger said 0.8mm had been recorded in Roxburgh, 0.4mm in Balclutha and 0.4mm in Oamaru.
A weak weather front had passed through Dunedin mid-afternoon but no significant rain was recorded in the city.
And comparative figures highlight increasingly dry conditions this month.
About 0.6mm of rain had been recorded in Dunedin this month, compared with 72.4mm for all of January last year; and 2mm had been recorded this month at Oamaru Airport, well down on 52.8mm for all of last January.
And no significant rain was forecast for Otago for the next week, she added.
Otago Rural Support Trust co-ordinator David Mellish yesterday welcomed the small amount of rain that had fallen.
But this offered only a ''momentary pause'' and would do nothing to dispel concerns about looming drought conditions, or to reduce rural fire risks, he said.
