Thank god it's February.
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After weeks of soaring temperatures, smoke haze, dust storms, violent winds, giant hail storms and unprecedented bushfires, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the start to 2020 was a month of weather extremes.
The bureau said last month was one of the hottest Januaries on record. The mean temperature was more than three degrees above average. The mean temperature at the Canberra Airport weather station was 31.7 degrees, the fourth-highest monthly mean on record.
The capital broke its 81-year temperature record when a maximum of 44 degrees was recorded on January 4.
Minimum temperatures across the territory were also higher than normal. The mean daily minimum of 15.2 degrees was almost two degrees above the long-term average.
While the mercury rose to new highs, the start to the year was one of the driest with just one-third of the monthly average rainfall recorded in the gauge.
Only 16 millimetres were recorded at Canberra Airport throughout the month, while 74 millimetres fell at Mount Ginini.
"Most of the rain which fell was from thunderstorms, resulting in large daily rainfall variations between sites," the bureau said.
Those thunderstorms included one of the most destructive hailstorms experienced in Canberra in recent years on January 20. Hail between four and six centimetres in diameter was recorded across Belconnen and Acton and into Canberra's inner south.
The storm caused extensive damage and more than 2000 calls to help were made to ACT emergency services.
Wind speeds of up to 117km/h were recorded on the day, the strongest since 1996 and the second strongest on record during January.
A constant throughout January was the smoke haze blowing in from bushfires burning on the South Coast and in the Snowy Mountains area.
On several days, Canberra recorded the worst air quality in the world as the sky turned shades of orange when the haze blanketed the city. The air quality rating peaked at 5185 at 8pm on January 1 at the Monash air quality station. A rating above 200 is considered hazardous.
The haze returned towards the end of the month after the Orroral Valley bushfire broke out.