SUMMER was dry for most of the Wimmera, with some areas experiencing the lowest summer rainfall on record.
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Bureau of Meteorology data shows Horsham, Stawell, Nhill and Ararat all had the driest summer on record.
Ararat recorded 33.2 millimetres – the previous driest summer was in 1982. The average summer rainfall for Ararat is 109.6 millimetres.
Stawell recorded 24.4 millimetres – the average is 104 millimetres.
Horsham recorded 26.6 millimetres – the average is 79.1 millimetres.
Nhill recorded 20.8 millimetres – the average is 68.8 millimetres.
Kaniva was the driest area in the state in December, with three millimetres recorded for the month.
Nhill also had the driest December on record, with 6.2 millimetres – the average is 30.1 millimetres.
The Wimmera was also warmer than average, with 10 days above 40 degrees in Horsham.
The hottest summer day in the state was recorded at Charlton on January 14 when the temperature reached 46.5 degrees.
Nhill had the highest summer average temperature on record, with 31.3 degrees.
Nhill also recorded 11 days above 40 degrees.
Stawell had its hottest January day on record, with 44 degrees on January 14.
The previous hottest was 43.6 degrees in 2003 and the average for January is 29.2 degrees.
Horsham’s average summer temperature was 31.1 degrees, which was 1.2 degrees above average. The hottest day was 45 degrees on January 14.
Stawell’s average summer temperature was 29.3 degrees, 1.3 degrees above average.
Warracknabeal’s average summer temperature was 31.9 degrees, 1.9 degrees above average. Longerenong had the lowest summer temperature on record with 0.5 degrees on December 6.
Statewide, it was the third hottest summer on record.