Not so surprising, Sydney's winter has been both significantly drier and warmer than normal but more strangely, the warmest days were in July and in a big way. July was warmer than the rest of the season for the first time in 43 years, unusual enough. However, July was 1.4 degrees warmer than the rest of the season, the biggest difference in 160 years of records. The previous biggest difference was 1.0 degrees, in 1975. This year, July averaged a maximum of 19.9 degrees, 2.1 degrees warmer than June and 0.7 degrees warmer than August. For the record, it was the 13th warmest winter in 160 years (days and nights combining to run 1.1 degrees above average) and the driest winter in nine years (gaining only 196mm, 63 percent of the seasonal average of 310mm). July and August were both particularly dry, only 19.0mm all up, 159mm below average and the driest July/August in 23 years. As with NSW as a whole, the past 12 months has been exceptionally dry. Only 683mm has been recorded in Sydney, about 530mm below the annual average. This is the city's driest September-to-August in 56 years and the fourth driest on record.