July was hotter than average in Moree

The average maximum daily temperatures for July 2017 was 20.2 degrees - a new record, up 0.2 degrees from the previous record set in 2013.

It is also 2.2 degrees higher than the overall average for July in Moree, which is 18.

Last month there were a total of 14 days above 20 degrees, including Moree’s hottest ever July day which was 27.3 degrees on Sunday, July 30.

The previous record of 25.2 degrees was set on July 20, 2016. There were four days above that record last month.

Moree wasn’t alone in breaking records last month, with daytime temperatures above average throughout the state and Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s ‘Australia in July 2017’ report shows that Australia experienced its warmest daytime mean maximum temperature on record in July this year.

Mungindi topped the state records for the warmest days on average last month, with an average of 22.8 degrees.

It also broke its record for the hottest July day, recording 29.9 degrees on Sunday, July 30 – just under the state’s hottest July day which was 30.2 degrees recorded at Brewarrina on the same day.

While July 2017 was one of the warmest on record, it was also one of the driest.

Statewide, rainfall for July was the lowest since 2002, at about 70 per cent below the long-term July average.

Moree only recorded a total of 5mm of rain for the whole month, just 14 per cent of its overall July average of 36.3mm.

Although this is low, it wasn’t Moree’s driest July – that was back in 2002 when only 0.6mm of rain fell throughout the whole month.

Earlier this year, Moree broke a number of heat records including the state record for the most number of days in a row of maximum temperatures above 35 degrees and its own record for the most days over 40 degrees.

The unseasonally warm winter weather looks set to continue in August, with 20-plus-degree, mostly sunny days forecast for the majority of the next week.