The temperature at the Oamaru Airport, 18km north of the town centre, dropped to just 18.2degC on Tuesday night.
Yesterday was also the hottest October day on record, the township reaching 27.4degC, 0.4 degrees over the 2001 October record of 27degC.
In the past month, Oamaru has received 16.2mm of rain and North Otago farmers are crying out for more.
The wettest October on record in Oamaru was in 1972, when 86.2mm of rain fell.
The driest, when 10.2mm was recorded, was in October 1963.
Niwa reported last week northeastern Otago's soil moisture levels were ''much drier to severely drier than normal for this time of year'', and sections of eastern Canterbury were in the same situation.
Federated Farmers North Otago president Richard Strowger it was ''the driest North Otago's been in the last 10 years'', and hot gale-force winds were only making matters worse.
Maheno sheep farmer Doug Brown said the strong winds were drawing moisture out of the ground ''quite quickly''.
''It is concerning, but I guess farmers are just getting on and making decisions.''
After last summer's drought, Mr Brown expected most farmers to be ''reasonably well prepared''.
''A lot of them, maybe, cut back their stocking rate last year because of the drought last year.
''Hopefully, they're reasonably well prepared, but we certainly need some rain, that's for sure.''
This year, Mr Brown cut back stock numbers, putting him in a better position to ''handle the dry'' this year.
''But if it doesn't rain and nothing grows, it doesn't matter,'' he said.
Farmers would continue to get rid of any extra stock if the rain did not come, he said.
Farmers in North Otago should understand it was a dry area and have planned well, he said.
Most farmers would be set up to handle one tough, dry year, but two years in a row would be difficult, he said.
''If we get two years in a row, it does become a wee bit more concerning,'' he said.
''[But] as I say, most people in North Otago are pretty good at dealing with drys, so ... we've all got to make our own decisions and get on and deal with it.''
Former Enfield farmer and Waitaki district councillor for the Corriedale ward Bill Kingan said in his area, farmers had not hit the panic button yet, but had been ''quite active in making decisions''.
''Especially with this wind, it's sucking what moisture there is out.
''It's always in the back of every farmer's mind to react to the situation ... I think everyone will have it in hand knowing there hasn't been much rain through the winter and just have to make decisions accordingly,'' he said.
