The Albany area is more than two-and-a-half inches below normal when it comes to how much rain we should have had so far this summer season. And the drier weather has likely turned your backyard brown. But as our Beth Croughan tells us, the color shouldn't be too big of a concern yet.

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ALBANY, N.Y. -- The shining sun will be a familiar sight for most of the week.

"So far, for the summer, we are below normal," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian Montgomery.

According to Montgomery, we've yet to measure much rain for the month of July and the Albany area has only seen a little more than two inches of showers since the first of June.

"Definitely drier than normal, the way it looks for the next, for the whole month. As a whole. Precipitation will be at or below normal as well with temperatures averaging right near that normal level. Maybe going above normal at the end of the month," he explained.

The drier weather combined with summer temperatures could make for a deadly combination for plant life. That's according to David Chinery, an educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

"We keep our vegetable garden well watered this time of the year. We have to water it about every two weeks in this kind of weather and dryness," Chinery said.

According to Chinery, while the weather has turned what's normally green grass brown, our lawns are more likely to survive without water.

"Even though they look very poorly, that doesn't mean they're dead. So if you just want to let your lawn go, we still have a few weeks in their where they won't be dead yet and if we get rain in the next couple of weeks, they'll probably just be fine," he said.

Chinery suggests watering both your garden and lawn about twice a week, but reminds residents to watch for any water restrictions and regulations.