Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The rain that mainly stayed away from Western New York this summer returned the day after Labor Day. About an inch fell at the airport. It's helpful to the drought matter, but one meteorologist says more has to fall.

"We're more than eight inches below normal for the year," says John Hitchcock at the National Weather Service. "This isn't going to solve the drought problem but it will bring short term relief for the soil."

Hitchcock says we'll need several months of steady rain to alleviate the drought, but warns the rain can't fall all at once. "The soil can only absorb so much, so we need that rainfall to be above normal and be spread out," notes Hitchcock.

Hitchcock says come November or December, the drought will come to an end. "In the wintertime, we don't evaporate much water for the soil, and we get much more rain and snow than can evaporate," explains Hitchcock.