Record-setting August

Cape Girardeau experienced the driest August on record this year since 1961, according to National Weather Service observations.

Only 0.01 inches of rain was recorded in August at the National Weather Service's observation station at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the driest since the agency began to take records there in 1961.

Before 1961, Southeast Missouri State University recorded observations dating from 1919, said Pat Guinan, state climatologist with the University of Missouri Extension. Comparing those records, 2007 is the second-driest August on record, Guinan said. The driest August came in 1936, when no measurable precipitation was recorded.

So far this year, according to the combined Southeast and National Weather Service records, the March-through-August period has been the driest such period recorded since 1936, and ranks as the third driest.

Driest March-through-August periods recorded:

1. 9.23 inches -- 1930

2. 11.63 inches -- 1936

3. 12.75 inches -- 2007

4. 13.69 inches -- 1988

5. 13.93 inches -- 1941

Source: Southeast Missouri State University and National Weather Service observations