Three years of drought were washed away when rainfall returned to Orange in 2020.
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Bureau of Meteorology figures show the city had one of its wettest years since records were first taken at the Orange Regional Airport weather station 24 years ago.
They show 1110.8 millimetres of rain was recorded in the 12 months.
This was not only well above the previous year's miserly amount of 479.6mm it was also well above the Orange mean rainfall average of 881.9mm.
More rain fell in 2020 than in all of 2018 and 2019.
However it was below the wettest year recorded at the airport of 1580.4mm in 2010.
The wettest time of the year in Orange was in autumn.
April was the wettest month with 145.2mm rainfall recorded.
The year started hot and wet in January as the city continued to struggle with drought conditions and Level 5 water restrictions.
Two January records were set last year. January 4 and 5 saw the hottest January temperature, 38.6 degrees, recorded since the weather station came into use. And on Australia Day, January 26 the highest wind gust, 85 km/h, was recorded.
The Bureau is due to release its full climate summary of 2020 across Australia in the next few days.
So far rain has fallen on every day in January 2021, compared to no rain in the first five days of January 2020.
The Bureau is predicting a wetter than normal summer.
It said there was a 70 per cent chance of Orange exceeding its median rainfall in January and also in the first three months of the year.
The Bureau's Head of Operational Climate Services Dr Andrew Watkins said while the risk of bushfires was not high as last summer there would be fires this year.
"There's a great chance of grass fires in some areas as recent rain and warm weather have led to vigorous vegetation growth. South eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions in the world," he said.
2020 WEATHER RECORDS
- Hottest day: January 4 and 5, 38.6 degrees
- Coldest minimum: August 27, minus 5.8 degrees
- Wettest day: January 26, 58.2 millimetres of rain.
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