Greene County received more rain than "normal" in June, with the official total being 6.91 inches, measured at the University of Tennessee Research and Education Center south of town.

That total exceeded the 4.22 inches expected in a "normal" June by 2.69 inches, greatly helping crops and lawns.

It was not, however, quite enough to catch the county up to "normal" for the first six months of 2009.

"Normal" rainfall figures are based on a 30-year average of records kept at the UT Center on East Allens Bridge Road.

The official total of actual rainfall here for the first half of the year reached 22.5 inches as of June 30, falling 1.23 inches short of the "normal" average, which would have been 23.73 inches.

Greene County Extension Director Milton Orr said rain in June "has been very beneficial."

Most of the rain fell in three or four hard rains, Orr noted, as well as a week of moisture during stormy weather.

Those heavy rains "filled up a lot of ponds," he said, and helped farmers who water livestock from streams and springs, as well.

"Growing conditions right now are very good," Orr said. "I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the summer."

With at least three prior years of below-normal rainfall producing drought conditions, "Our subsoil moisture is not back to where it needs to be, of course, but topsoil moisture is such that we're having a pretty normal crop year, so far," Orr said.

In May, the UT center officially recorded 3.65 inches, which was .82 inches below normal for May.

Although Tennessee is now classified as "drought free," rainfall measured at the UT Center has remained below average for every month of 2009 except January and June, according to statistics provided by the center.

The UT Center reported that 4.68 inches of rain fell in January. But since then, rainfall amounts have totaled:

* 2.25 inches in February;

* 2.26 inches in March;

* 2.75 inches in April, and

* 3.65 inches in May.

Average rainfall amounts at the center over the last 30 years, according to the report, have totaled:

* 3.53 inches in January;

* 3.48 inches in February;

* 4.31 inches in March;

* 3.72 inches in April, and

* 4.47 inches in May.