Bureau of Meteorology readings from Warrnambool showed 16.8mm of rain fell in the 24 hour period up to 9am Sunday May 1, and another 5.6mm fell up to Monday morning.

Minjah farmer Russell Selway said the rain was “absolutely fantastic” and made him feel 10 years younger.

“Every farmer I’ve seen, they’re different today than they were last week,” he said. 

“It’s late in the season but I really believe it’s worth millions for this area.”

Mr Selway said he had recently sown a lot of seed in dry ground and would now look forward to good grass growth.

“You just feel like farming again,” he said.

The rainfall over the weekend brought Warrnambool’s April total to 37mm, which is still significantly lower than the 53.1mm average.

Bade Ness Rural agronomy field services officer Paul Smith said the rainfall was the start to the season people had wanted.

“Any grass that was already in will just jump out of the ground now,” he said.

Mr Smith said farmers would now be hoping the ground doesn’t get cold too quickly to allow some good growth to take place before winter sets in.

“This is more than enough rain to get the season kicked into gear,” he said.

A rain dance event in Tarrington on Sunday is believed to have broken a world record after more than 400 people attended the Swamp Stomp.

The previous record was set in Dublin, Ireland, in 2011 when 395 people took part in a rain dance.

Event organiser Naomi Turner said the rain dance took place amid intermittent showers and strong winds.

“It went really well,” she said. “We just scraped it over the line in beating the Irish world record.”

Ms Turner said the day brought the community together, and she was pleased it coincided with the weekend’s rainfall.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for western Victoria at 10.30pm on Saturday April 30.

The downpour pushed April rainfall figures up across the region, with a total of 27.6mm for Camperdown, 25mm for Port Fairy, 37.6mm for Mortlake, 38.8mm for Hamilton and 24.4mm for Cape Nelson near Portland.