The leaves are starting to change and the mornings are getting (slightly) cooler, but it still feels like summer never left.
Until it does, let’s look back on one very hot and dry summer.
December saw a scorching start to the season, with the month’s highest daytime temperature of 41.7°C on December 16.
For comparison, December 2023 had a highest daytime temperature of 37.4°C, and the hottest December day recorded in Shepparton since records began in 1996 was 44.9°C, on December 20, 2019.
Nights felt just as hot, with the highest minimum temperature recorded at 22.5°C on December 23.
In terms of lows, the coldest day reached 22.5°C on December 23, hotter than the coldest December day recorded in Shepparton since 1996, which was 13.7°C on December 1, 2019.
December was a wet month, with 46mm of rain, well above the historical average of 32.7mm.
January was a toasty start to the new year.
The days were hot, with the highest daytime temperature reaching 41.7°C, one of three 40°Cplus days.
This was hotter than last year’s January, when the hottest day reached only 32.6°C, but it didn’t quite hit the historical Shepparton high of 46.2°C reached on January 25, 2019.
Nights were just as hot in January, when the mercury dipped to a minimum of only 22.5°C on January 15.
Similarly, January 2024’s hottest night was 22.1°C on January 13, but neither quite compares to January 9, 2003 when it got down to only 29.1°C.
Lows didn’t feel too cold in January, with the coldest daytime maximum temperature reaching 22.1°C on January 6.
This was cooler than January 2024’s coolest day, where the temperature reached 23.5°C, but not as cold as the coldest January day recorded in Shepparton since 1996 when the mercury reached only 17.7°C on January 13, 2013.
One night was colder than the rest of January, when the mercury fell to 10.9°C on January 18, close to January 2024’s coldest Shepparton night of 10°C.
January was dry, with 20.4mm of rain across the month, falling short of the average of 34.5mm.
February continued the hot spell for Shepparton, with the hottest day reaching 40.7°C on February 7.
This is just slightly hotter than last February’s high, when it reached 39°C on February 4, but it’s beaten by the historical high of 46.1°C on February 7, 2009.
The coldest day reached 21.2°C on February 16, which was cooler than February 2024’s lowest daytime maximum when it peaked at 23.2°C on February 14.
These were both still hotter than the coolest February day recorded in Shepparton, when it only reached 13.5°C on February 3, 2005.
Overnight minimum temperatures in February were as high as 23.3°C on February 2, and fell to as low as 7.1°C on February 16.
In comparison, last February’s night-time highs and lows sat at 24.1°C on February 5, 2024 and 10.5°C on February 15, respectively.
From the historical data, Shepparton saw a very warm night-time minimum of 27.1°C on February 9, 2014 and a night-time low of 5°C on February 17, 1998.
February barely saw any rain, with the total for the month coming to 3.2mm.
Compared to last year’s total of 22mm and the average for February of 32.8mm, this February fell well short.
The highest rainfall fell on February 23, with only 1.6mm, not quite comparing to last February’s highest rainfall of 17.6mm.
22°C