After three years of what was described as the worst drought in living memory, 2020 ended up being a wet one for Inverell. The town received 117 percent of its average annual total.

A total of 926.1 millimetres of rain fell from the heavens last year, smashing the annual average of 793 millimetres.

February was the wettest, with a total of 224.8mm falling throughout the month.

Only a measly 259.1millimetres fell in 2019; a total Inverell reached before the end of February last year, thanks to some heavy downpours and big storms in January and February.

In 2020 the nationally averaged rainfall was 4 percent above average for the year at 483.4 millimetres, and rainfall was above average for most of New South Wales.

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Temperatures in New South Wales in 2020 were generally above average except in the southwest.

Inverell recorded its highest daily minimum temperature of 24.2 degrees on December 2, which was just a fraction more than the former highest recorded daily minimum temperature in 56 years of 24.1 degrees on February 12 in 2017, but well over the annual average of 10.3 degrees.

Inverell's annual mean daily minimum temperature for 2020 was 8.7.

Last year was the fourth-warmest year on record for Australia with both mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures above average across the country.

Australia's area-averaged mean temperature for 2020 was 1.15 degrees above the 1961-1990 average. Mean maximum temperatures were the eighth-warmest on record at 1.24 degrees above average.

Mean minimum temperatures were the fourth-warmest on record at 1.05 degrees above average. The national temperature dataset commenced in 1910.

The wet weather looks set to continue this year, with above-average rainfall predicted over the coming months as the La Nina remains active until at least the start of autumn.

Already this year, Inverell has recorded 60 millimetres, with the past few weeks being wet.