Technical Officer at Wagga Bureau of Meteorology, Bruce Copplestone, said the month’s temperatures were exceptional. 

“It has been the hottest January ever on record,” he said. 

“That wasn’t just maximum and minimum temperatures either, but also duration.”

The region recorded it’s hottest day yet at Wagga Airport, reaching a maximum of 45.2 degrees Celsius – 0.4 degrees higher than the previous record in 2001. 

Mr Copplestone said the minimum temperatures also matched the record breaking trend. 

“We had the highest minimum temperature of 29.8 degrees on the 17th, beating the previous of 29.5 in 1973,” he said.

As well as record breaking days, Wagga experienced 12 consecutive days above 40 degrees, doubling the previous record. 

Rainfall was lower than average with a total of 37.6mm over the month, most of which came from thunderstorms leaving the area dry.

The heat has impacted everyone from schools to businesses, and one local business in particular had a tough month. 

Michael Cashen, who co-owns Bidgee Strawberries and Cream, said the hot days had a noticeable impact on their crop.

“[Our strawberries] haven’t held up well at all, we’ve had a couple of other issues on top of the heat too so it’s been a tough month,” he said.

“They’re pretty resilient but we’ve had to work much faster and find alternative ways to keep the business going strong.”

Mr Cashen said the weather meant changing up their business plan. 

“All the strawberries we’ve grown over the month have had to be made into ice cream because the heat accelerates the ripening rate so there’s a lot more seconds we can’t sell as fresh fruit,” he said. 

Weather expert Mr Copplestone said February is looking to have warmer than average days, but hopes the dry conditions will not continue. 

“The seasonal outlook from February to April suggests we’re likely to see warmer days and nights than normal, but rainfall should be steady,” he said.

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