NSW has just sweated through its warmest year on record – and the Illawarra wasn’t spared the heat.
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The Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate data, released on Thursday, revealed – unsurprisingly – that 2018 was dominated by very dry conditions.
Much of the Illawarra remains drought-affected at the start of 2019, thanks to below-average rainfall over the past 12 months.
Albion Park recorded just 70 per cent of its typical yearly rainfall in 2018, while Nowra was also drier than usual.
Statewide, 2018 was the sixth-driest year on record and the driest since 2002.
Temperature-wise, the 2018 average maximum of 22.9 degrees at Albion Park was 0.3 degrees above the norm.
The suburb’s overall night-time temperature was closer to average.
Weather data for the bureau’s official Bellambi weather station – the closest to the Wollongong CBD – was not included in the annual summary.
The observation site was offline for a number of days last year.