ORANGE followed the nationwide weather trend for the past three months, with summer temperatures up to five degrees above long-term averages and rainfall down by a third from December to February.
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According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the recently-concluded summer was Australia's warmest, and among the top 10 driest, in more than a century of records.
It included the nation's hottest December and January on record, during which maximum temperatures were a whopping 2.41 and 3.37 degrees above average, respectively.
The average top temperature in January was a stifling 32.2 degrees - 5.6 degrees above the city's 40-year mean.
Orange wasn't immune, with the average top temperature in January a stifling 32.2 degrees, 5.6 degrees above the city's 40-year mean.
December and February were milder, though their average maximums of 25.6 and 27.5 degrees respectively were still more than a full point above the typical marks between 1976-2016.
According to the BoM, summer's unprecedented heat was caused by a combination of factors: a delayed start to northern Australia's wet season, persistence of blocking high pressure systems to the east of Australia, and the influence of rising global temperatures.
The drought conditions showed no signs of abating in Orange, with a significantly reduced volume of water found in rain gauges in the last three months.
Across summer Orange recorded a total of 164.2 millimetres of rain, more than 32 per cent lower than the long-term average of 242.7 millimetres.
February was especially dry, with 46 millimetres falling across just five days. Almost half of the month's total was recorded on a single day: 19.2 millimetres on Friday, February 8.
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