Glen Innes has had its driest winter since the Second World War, according to new statistics released by the Bureau of Meteorology. Smashing previous records set in 1940 and 2002, both of Glen Innes' BoM measuring stations recorded a fraction of average rainfall. Just 30.3mm of rain fell at Glen Innes' agriculture station through winter, trumping the 70 year record of 36mm, set in 1940. And the airport measured just 34.4mm, beating the 2002 record of 52.8. That's about one fifth the average. Glen Innes' average winter rainfall is 156.2mm at the airport, or 147.4mm at the agriculture station. Read more: This winter was also one of the warmest winters in living memory, with an average daily maximum temperature of 15.6 degrees at the airport the warmest in 17 years. That's 2.2 degrees warmer than average - during the day. Paradoxically Glen Innes also had its coldest July morning in a quarter of a century, with the airport measuring minus 12.3 degrees on July 19. The strange combination of Antarctic mornings followed by mild days isn't just a coincidence, according to storm chaser Thomas Hinterdorfer. He said very large, slow moving high pressure systems were creating constant fine and sunny days throughout the region. "The result of that is that we get these consistent clear and sunny days," he said. "What that then allows is for light winds, clear skies. "The natural heat can come down more and so the temperature at least gets to average but most of the time it will end up being above average "The flip side then is because it is so clear - a clear night, with light winds all the heat can evaporate and escape and so the temperature is plummeting at night. "It's just been on repeat the whole time." He said the average July night temperature was a degree below average, with days about 2.3 degrees above average. More stories: The record dry winter might be a record, but it isn't a surprise, adding to months of extreme dry conditions for town residents and farmers. Glen Innes has received a fraction of its average rainfall this year, with just 211.2mm of rain in 70 rain days this year to September, according to Elders local weather. That's a long way short of half average rainfall of 570.3mm of rain in 81.1 days. It's even less than 2018. By today last year, 213.3mm of rain had fallen in 54 days. The entire state is dry, with average August rainfall across NSW 77 per cent below average. According to the Bureau this is the fifth lowest on record, and the worst since 1995. And dry conditions are set to continue, with the Bureau predicting below average rainfall conditions to continue through Spring, estimating warmer than average days for the entire country outside Tasmania. The Bureau forecast summary puts it well, predicting "little relief in sight for those currently experiencing rainfall deficiencies after a dry start to the year for large parts of Australia."
