The mean maximum temperature of 24.3 degrees for February made it the warmest February since 25 degrees in 2001.

Down south at Macquarie Island, February with 133.6 millimetres was the third wettest in 75 years behind 136.6 in 1988 and 147 in 2022. Both 1988 and 2022 were remarkably wet years in our regions, particularly from May onwards for most of the months up to December.

The coastal town of Yamba last year had its driest year, with 724 millimetres, since 679 in 1915, which did follow a wet year in 1914. Other very dry years which also followed a wet year in Yamba were in 1880, 1885 and 1968. The first two months of 2024 at Yamba were notably warmer than usual. The mean minimum temperatures for January and February, 23 and 22.8 degrees respectively, were the warmest since 1879 and equal warmest with 1898, 1980, 1991 and 1998. March and April tended to be hotter and drier apart from rain late April while the winter and September were milder and wetter than usual. October and November were also rather hot after these episodes.

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Perth has recorded its second hottest summer on record. The mean maximum temperature of 32.6 degrees was 0.7 degrees below the record hottest summer of 2021-22. Perth did have a record number of days over 40 degrees during February. The eight days of over 40 doubled the previous record number of four days back in 1985. Perth's hottest summer two years ago led to a very wet January in our district in 2022 and it was also very wet in January this year in our district. The autumn of 2022 was slightly drier and warmer but from June 2022 onwards it was wetter up to November.

It has also been a notable hot summer in Brisbane. The mean minimum temperature of 22.5 degrees was the highest in 165 years of records. The previous highest mean minimum temperature for any summer was 44 years ago in 1979-80, which was relatively dry in Victoria and NSW but very wet in Northern Queensland. Brisbane with 697 millimetres had its wettest summer for four years. The year 1980 was notably warmer than usual in our district with significant rain late April, late June, late July, then a warmer and drier spring with maximum temperatures reaching 41 degrees in the third week of November before heavy rain mid-December of 1980.

It has been a most odd summer in the city of Melbourne, the highest temperature not reaching 38 degrees at all, compared with middle 40s in the Mallee and low 40s in western parts of Victoria. In both December and January the temperature reached 34 degrees on Wednesday, December 13, and 33.4 degrees on Friday, January 12. This was the lowest pair of absolute maximum temperatures for any December and January in the same summer going right back to 1855. There were only three other December to January periods in which the highest temperature failed to reach 35 degrees in the same summer. These were 1864-65, 1930-31 and 1971-72.