The Border’s average maximum temperature was 34.9 degrees, 0.9 degrees short of the hottest average on record (35.8) in 1939.

The hottest day of the month was 43.4 degrees on Saturday, January 5.

On that day, the Wang- aratta and District Cricket Association cancelled its games due to extreme weather.

“January’s average for Albury-Wodonga was 3.1 degrees above the long-term average,” Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Blair Trewin said.

“It’s well above normal but not record breaking.

“The minimum average of 16.4 degrees was close to average.”

Albury-Wodonga enjoyed a short respite from the heat on Monday, January 14 with a minimum temperature of 8.9 degrees.

When it came to rainfall, the Border was “lucky” to get a third of the long-term average (49 millimetres).

Just 16.8 millimetres fell for the month, with most of it (12.6 millimetres) in an isolated thunderstorm on Sunday, January 6.

“Albury-Wodonga got a bit lucky in that sense,” Mr Trewin said.

“It had the thunderstorm but you didn’t have to go too far west, to about Chiltern, before the rainfall dropped right off — areas west of Albury only got about three millimetres.”

The figure was the lowest rainfall since 2009 when only eight millimetres fell.

Mr Trewin said the Border’s January rainfall was about 40 per cent down on normal.

He said there were no indicators of the Border’s temperature and rainfall being higher or lower than normal from now until April.