THE Wagga Bidgee Canoe Club marked the end of summer on Saturday with its weekly river ritual.
While the mercury has failed to reach 40 degrees across the summer months, Wagga experienced an overall above average seasonal temperature.
Fetching a maximum of 35 degrees, the heat did little to deter club members on Saturday as they took to the river for the last day of summer.
Wagga’s Bureau of Meteorology technical officer Robbie Lennard said an unusual January rainfall made for a wet summer with above average maximum and minimum temperatures.
February reached a maximum average temperature of 32.4 degrees, 1.5 degrees above average.
The minimum overnight temperature averaged 18.2 degrees, while the rainfall was 28mm below the monthly average at 13.6mm.
January averaged a 30.7 degrees maximum temperature to sit just one degree below average, while the minimum temperature hit eight degrees above the average at 17.1 degrees.
“It was a cooler than average January because a high pressure system over the Tasman Sea has directed moist air into the trough over central NSW,” Mr Lennard said.
December averaged 31 degrees as a maximum temperature and 15.3 degrees as a minimum, while rainfall slunk to 15mm below the December average to hit 27.8mm.
The mercury rose to 38.3 degrees as the hottest summer temperature on February 8, while January 2 was the hottest day of the month at 38.9 degrees and December 15 the hottest of the month at 36.7 degrees.
Mr Lennard said it was unusual the temperature failed to hit 40 degrees over the summer months.
“In Autumn, there’s an equal likelihood of it being wetter and drier,” Mr Lennard said.
“There’s a 65 per cent chance it will be a warmer than normal day time maximum and an 80 per cent chance of a warmer overnight minimum.”
March days average high temperatures around 31 degrees.
So far this year, 107.2mm of rainfall has been recorded.
