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Last year was a scorcher: BOM

The Northern Territory Bureau of Meteorology says 2008 was scorching and wet, with maximum temperatures the tenth warmest on record and rainfall above average.

In the western part of the Top End, October and November brought the most heat, while for the southern part, January 2008 brought the hottest average day and night temperatures.

The Bureau's Sam Cleland says the Territory also experienced the 14th warmest minimum temperatures on record.

"We followed a similar trend to parts of Australia with respect to temperature.

"We were above average, both maximums and minimums, a little way off the couple of hottest years that we have on record, being 1998 and 2005.

"[But it was] almost a degree warmer than normal for the average maximum temperature."

And the bureau recorded 1,970 millimetres of rain last year, with Dum In Mirrie getting 650 millimetres in consecutive days.

Mr Cleland says the 2009 wet is also shaping up to be a big one.

"We have been seeing above average rainfalls over large parts of the Territory just recently as conditions in the Pacific get more akin to La Nina type conditions and consistent with that we have been seeing above average rains and with some potential that they could continue."

- ABC

© ABC 2008

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