January was warm and very dry

January was warm and very dry, having the lowest rainfall of any month for at least 10 years, local weather commentator Murray Eggers said.

“This follows one of the wettest months on record providing additional evidence that the weather is becoming more erratic.

“The daily average maximum temperature was 24.6 degrees, 1.7 degrees above the 10-year average and the second-warmest in the last 10 years.

“It was also over two degrees warmer than January 2021.

“The warmest day was Sunday 02 with a 28.5 degree maximum, and the coolest 22 degrees on a couple of days.

“This means of course that it made 20 degrees every day, but it also reached 25 degrees on 12 days compared with four days last year.

“With 25 sunny days it was also the second sunniest January in 10 years, seven days more than the average; only January 2015 beat it by half a day.

“Following a record wet December, rainfall for the month amounted to a record low of only 8.4mm (airport).

“This was also possibly the lowest rainfall recorded in any month ever, causing quite large shrubs to wilt and premature leaf drop. February is also often a dry, warm month, with summery weather extending into early March, so there may not be much change for a few weeks yet.”