WANGARATTA has had one of its mildest summers in decades, with the maximum temperature failing to reach 40 degrees, and only exceeding 35 degrees on 10 days throughout all of December, January and February.

Our highest recorded temperature for summer was 38.5 degrees on December 18, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

January's hottest day was 36.4 degrees on January 1, while last month's maximum temperature was 35.7 degrees on February 15.

This is the first time since 1989 that the city's maximum temperature in both January and February didn't reach 37 degrees.

February's mean maximum temperature of 29.8 degrees was 1.2 degrees below normal, while the mean minimum temperature of 13.2 was 0.6 below the February normal of 13.8.

January's mean maximum temperature of 31.6 degrees was .5 degrees below the 33 year average and the mean minimum of 16.6 degrees was 2.3 degrees above normal.

December's mean maximum temperature of 29.4 degrees was .1 degrees above normal and the mean minimum of 11.5 degrees was .3 degrees above normal.

Summer rainfall totalled 142mm, but it varied greatly throughout the months.

December's total of 10mm and February's 16.2mm were well short of their respective monthly averages of 44.2mm and 42.8mm.

However, January's total of 115.8mm was more than three times the monthly average of 45mm over the past 30 odd years.

Summer's rainfall total of

January was punctuated by a series of storm fronts while February – our driest in four years – will be remembered for some rather unseasonal humid days, as well as the storm front which wreaked havoc on pars of the countryside from Milawa to Markwood.