September, so far, has soaked the landscape with more than 2.5 inches of rain in the first four days.

That amount has more than made up for August's shortfall on the average amount of rain for the month.

On average, August sees 3.8 inches of rain, according to data collected at the University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, located on East Allens Bridge Road.

This year, however, August rainfall here totaled 3.19 inches, slightly less than the historical average.

The small August deficit, combined with previous year-to-date rainfall here, left a 1.26 inch shortfall for the first eight months of the year, compared with the historical average of 32.26 inches for those eight months.

By early Saturday, Sept. 1, however, the first .03 inches of the month had fallen, followed by 1.34 inches recorded early Monday, Sept. 3.

By Tuesday morning, there had been another 1.27 inches.

"We're good here," Center Director Rob Ellis said in an interview Tuesday.

"We were starting to get a little dry here and need the rain. But then of course the 3rd and the 4th we got basically 2.6 inches of rain."

He said that the rain this week will help Fall hay, but may not have much of an impact on local tobacco since the rain for that crop was needed in June and July.

"A lot of folks already are harvesting," he said.

The most rainfall in August came early in the month, with 1.27 inches on Aug. 1.

Other days of significant rainfall included .38 inches Aug. 4, .58 inches Aug. 6, and .33 inches Aug. 10.

As of Aug. 31, exactly 31 inches of rain had fallen since Jan. 1. The historical average for that same eight-month time frame is 32.26 inches.

Thus, by the end of August, local rainfall was running 1.26 inches behind the historical average.

Then came the rains of Sept. 3 and 4 to balance the budget.

Temperatures for the month of August stayed in a comfortable range, with the average maximum of 85 degrees and minimum of 61 degrees.