Adelaide just cracked 40 degrees for the seventh day this December, ensuring the city sees its hottest December on record by a long shot. On the final day of the year, the City of Churches soared to 40.6 degrees, making it the seventh day this month that the big 40 has been cracked. This has almost doubled the previous December record of four days set in both 1897 and 1898. More remarkably, this is the second-highest amount of 40 degree days on record for any month, only behind January 1908 which saw 10 days. This record is largely due to the heatwave midway through the month, which saw the city exceed 40 degrees for four consecutive days. The intense heat has helped Adelaide also track well above average in general across the month, running more than five degrees above average and eclipsing its previous December record by more than a degree. El Nino conditions have contributed to the record heat. Troughs frequently came in from the west collecting heat from inland West Australia and pooling it across South Australia, with cold fronts not strong enough or frequent enough to flush it all north. It will be hot again to kick off the New Year, with a forecast of 35 degrees, with temperatures continuing to track in the early 30s throughout the first week of January.