There has been a 47.5ºC temperature range in Australia this month. But just how big can the gap between high and low temperatures get in this country?

As of 9am on Friday, the highest and lowest temperatures registered in Australia so far this month were 38.1ºC at Mandora in WA and -9.4ºC at Perisher in NSW.

This is a temperature difference of 47.5ºC. The difference between the highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in each calendar month is a fair bit larger than this, ranging from 54.0ºC in May to 61.8ºC in August.

Here are the ranges between Australia's maximum and minimum temperature records from each month (recorded in any year):

• January: 56.3ºC
• February: 57.5º C
• March: 55.7ºC
• April: 58.0ºC
• May: 54.0ºC
• June: 60.9ºC
• July: 57.9ºC
• August: 61.8ºC
• September: 59.8ºC
• October: 58.9ºC
• November: 58.1ºC
• December: 56.9ºC

And how about the difference between Australia's all-time high and low temperatures?

These are the official maximum and minimum temperature records in Australia:

• 50.7ºC at Oodnadatta, South Australia on January 2, 1960
• -23.0ºC at Charlotte Pass, NSW on June 29, 1994

This makes the difference between Australia's hottest and coldest places a whopping 73.7ºC.