It is little wonder people have been remarking how dry it has been. August set a new record for the least amount of rainfall in the month.

Despite the fact there were six days with measurable precipitation, weather observers at the New York State Historical Association station recorded only .41 inches of rain, making it the driest August in more than 100 years. The previous record was .63 inches of rain in 1898. Typically, the area can expect almost 3.5 inches of rain during the month.

Kevin Ganoe, the area field crop specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, said Monday that the dry weather has hurt corn yield for this year. "Farmers are taking off corn silage early this year," he said.

When corn is chopped for silage it must be harvested at the proper moisture level. Some farmers are chopping two weeks or more early this season and are finding differences between their fields. The fields with well-drained, gravelly soils dried out much faster and the corn is ready to chop earlier than fields with heavier, clay soils that hold the moisture longer.

The affect on yield can bee seen in many fields where on drier high spots or knobs the corn may be four or five feet tall, but in the lower spots with more moisture, it has reached heights close to ten feet.

The dry weather can also lead to poor ear development and lower quality silage.

Some farmers are seeing yields of silage drop by as much as a third from 20 or 21 tons to the acre to 14 tons to the acre, he said..

Hay yields have also been hurt, but Ganoe said if you had hay, this was a good year to make it.

Matt Albright, assistant to the director at the Biological Field Station, said the dry weather meant there were fewer nutrients washing into the lake, unlike last May and June when it was so wet. The lake, he said, was in the worst shape it had been for long time in terms of clarity and oxygen.

Months like August can make it difficult for researchers who are trying to monitor conditions in and around the lake. "It takes so many years for monitoring and it becomes tricky when there is so much variability in the weather," Albright said.

Not only was last month the driest in a long time, the month can also boast the fourth highest average August temperature of 83.8 degrees, the eighth highest average temperature at 70.4 degrees, and the fourth highest temperature for the month at 95 degrees. There were 20 days in the 80s and four days in the 90s.

Weather statistics for August 2001: high temperature, 95 on Aug. 10; low temperature, 45 on the Aug. 30; record high for the month, 98 on Aug. 4, 1944; record low for the month, 29 on Aug. 25, 1940; average temperature for August 70.4; departure from average temperature, +4.2 degrees; new temperature records for the month, 91 on Aug. 8 and a tie with the record of 95 on Aug. 5; precipitation for the month, .41 inches; departure from normal precipitation for month, -3.05 inches; year-to-date precipitation, 21.54 inches; departure from year-to-date precipitation, -4.32 inches; highest precipitation record for the month, 9.75 inches in 1898; lowest precipitation record for the month .41 inches in 2001.