As of yesterday Orange has received 156 millimetres under the yearly average and there doesn’t appear to be any prospect of soaking rain before the end of the month.

However, Orange residents certainly welcomed the 21.4 millimetres of rain which fell steadily on Christmas Day.

So far this month Orange has received 45.6 millilitres of rain spread over six days which is around half of the usual 82.3 millimetres average for December since records began in 1966. 

The amount of rain we have received in Orange this month is in stark contrast to December 2010 when 299 millimetres poured down on the city to fill dams on district properties.

Today’s maximum temperature is predicted to be 27 degrees rising from a minimum this morning of 12.

With a top of 30 degrees expected tomorrow, here is just a 10 per cent chance of rain.

The weekend is expected to remain fine on Sunday with a minimum of 14 degrees and a maximum of 30 degrees.

With a few days of December still ahead, so far the coldest day this month was Thursday, December 5, when the temperature only climbed to 14 degrees.

That was in stark contrast to the temperatures last weekend with the top temperature for the month recorded on Saturday when it reached 34.5 degrees. 

Without the benefit of a lower temperature at night with a minimum of 22 degrees recorded (10.8 above the average), Sunday felt just as hot even though the temperature recorded was slightly lower at 34.2 degrees