It might have been a wet start to October for much of the Riverina, but Wagga has just recorded its hottest and driest September on record.
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The Bureau of Meteorology's Wagga Airport gauge recorded just 3.4 millimetres of rainfall for the entire month, with precipitation falling on just two of the 30 days.
Wagga also recorded its highest average September daily maximum temperature in 81 years of records, with the monthly figure of 22.2 degrees eclipsing the previous record of 21.6 from 2006. The average for September is 17.7 degrees.
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The city also equalled its highest average September temperature of 13.5 degrees.
Parts of the region also saw daily September temperature records broken with the Hume Reservoir recording its hottest day in 57 years on the 19th when temperatures soared to 30.7 degrees.
Meanwhile, in the region's northeast, West Wyalong endured its hottest day of the month in 25 years with a temperature of 34.6 degrees on September 18.
Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Brad Jackson said the hot conditions were a sign the climate drivers are starting to kick in.
"We've just come out of three years of La Nina and were in neutral conditions until September 19 and we've now moved into the El Nino," Mr Jackson said.
El Nino is an extensive warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific that leads to a major shift in weather patterns across Australia, and is set to fuel hot and dry weather leading into the 2023-24 summer.
Mr Jackson said other climate drivers were also at work, especially the positive Indian Ocean Dipole.
"The transition to those climate drivers is why we're starting to see warmer and drier conditions in and around the Wagga region," he said.
But no sooner had September ended when October rains brought more than five times the rain of the previous month, with Wagga recording 19.4mm in just three days.
October is the city's wettest month of the year with a long-term average of 56.8mm, however Mr Jackson said predictions are Wagga won't reach that tally despite the early downpour.
"The outlook for October and into November is for below-average rainfall," he said.
Mr Jackson said this doesn't mean it won't rain, but that the region won't see as much as it usually does.
For some farmers, this is not an issue, with last week's rains set to get crops through until harvest.
![Wallacetown farmer Rob Gollasch says his canola survived the September dry spell. File picture Wallacetown farmer Rob Gollasch says his canola survived the September dry spell. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/172474527/a24f3205-8646-4710-8969-5c8302af5c98.jpg/r0_0_1920_1079_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Wallacetown farmer Rob Gollasch said the September dry spell put stress on some of his wheat crops and he was glad when the heavens opened.
"The crops were going very well, but they started to feel the stress a little bit about 10 days before the last rain event," he said.
Mr Gollasch has about 1000 hectares of wheat, along with approximately 200 hectares of barley and 800 hectares of canola.
"Some varieties were curling their leaves a little bit and not looking quite as fresh as they should be."
Mr Gollasch said the rains should be enough to get this season's crops over the line.
"It will probably carry us through until harvest," he said.
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