The mercury topped out in Mudgee on Monday when it hit 31.9°C which, although short of being Mudgee’s hottest April day on record (32.6°C in 2016), it was still well above the average top of 22.9°C.

The average maximum temperature for the month so far is 29.4°C, but expect that to lower with the coolest part of April still to come.

The hottest April on record at the Mudgee Airport weather station was in 2005, which had an average top temp of 26.3°C.

With the warm days we have been experiencing, it remains to be seen if that record will still be standing at the end of the month.

The average minimum temperature for April 2018 is currently sitting at 12.3°C, which is 4.6°C up on the normal and above the record highest of 10.2°C in 1998.

But again, the coldest half of the month is still to come.

According to weatherzone.com.au an unseasonably hot air mass is bringing the temperatures to parts of southern and eastern Australia.

This weather pattern is a bit odd for this time of year as April typically sees cold fronts penetrating further north.

However, the Mudgee top temperature is forecast to dip to 23°C on Saturday with a 50 per cent chance of rain, and a cool 23 degrees expected on Sunday. Predictions are hovering around the mid-20s for the beginning of next week also. 

Rain is forecast for Friday with a predicted 90 per cent chance of 5-10mm, likely to come in the early evening.

If that is delivered upon, it’ll end a dry spell for the area stretching back to late March, when 28.8mm was recorded in the 24-hour period to 9am on Monday, March 26.

Mudgee has received 130mm of rain since the beginning of the year, which is 107mm short of the average amount the area would have by this point. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has declared the central-west under drought watch, with a number of regions receiving just a fraction of their usual rainfall.