Thunderstorms in Ettrick and Cromwell that night heralded the arrival of the first significant rain parts of the district have received in months.
The rain was widespread throughout the district, with Alexandra receiving 33mm, Roxburgh 21mm and Cromwell 49mm.
"It's just what the doctor ordered and we'd like more of the same in about another 10 days," Central Otago Principal Rural Fire Officer Owen Burgess said.
His comments were echoed by Federated Farmers Otago president Mike Lord.
"It will certainly do some good and farmers will appreciate it, but we'd like some more," he said.
Central Otago fruitgrowers said there was little damage to their ripening crops.
Summerfruit New Zealand chairman and Roxburgh orchardist Gary Bennetts said the prolonged rain in the Teviot Valley was "fantastic news for farmers".
"For us, we're getting well through the season so it won't have much impact and we're very happy for our farming colleagues in the Teviot Valley.
Our industry was getting concerned for our farming colleagues because things were getting so dry," he said.
It was the end of the season for Roxburgh cherries and ripe apricots on trees might receive some marking because of the rain, but its effect would the minor.
"We always say we'd like the rain right at the end of the season and we're not quite at the end, but it's timely anyway."
Helicopters were out in force at dawn yesterday in Cromwell, hovering above orchards, drying cherries still waiting to be harvested.
The general manager of 45 South Management Ltd, Tim Jones, of Cromwell, said cherries in that district had fared "remarkably well", with a deluge of 35mm in less than an hour on Thursday evening.
"I walked out in the orchard this [Friday] morning and expected to see lots of cracked cherries but it was very difficult to find any damage. We're just lucky with the stage the cherries are at and they must be less susceptible to rain."
The cherry season was three-quarters of the way through in Cromwell, he said.
About 550 tonnes of cherries had been harvested and there was another 100 tonnes still to go.
The rain would give cherry and apricot pickers and packers a welcome break from their efforts, he said.
Because the fruit was soft as a result of the rain, it would be a day or two before picking resumed, to give the fruit skin a chance to harden.
The Cromwell Fire Brigade had the novelty of being called out to flooding, rather than fires, on Thursday night.
Chief Fire Officer Steve Shaw said floodwaters entered basement garages in three or four homes as some drains could not cope with the deluge.
There was even a pond more than 30cm deep outside the fire station in Barry Ave.
"A couple of people even arrived with lilos and canoes to use in the pond," he said.
