Residents may be familiar with hot, dry weather at this time of the year, but the string of sweltering days left many surprised.

Weatherzone meteorologist Scott Morris said records were broken in Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange this summer.

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"We had troughs sitting over the region for quite a while and it just built up heat," he said.

Bathurst recorded its hottest January in 50 years with an average daily maximum of 34 degrees. This was 5.6 degrees above the long-term average of 28.4.

Records were also broken in Dubbo and Orange with both cities recording their hottest January in 20 years.

In Dubbo the average top this January was 39 degrees - way above the usual maximum of 33.2 degrees.

While in Orange, the mercury rose to an average of 32.5 degrees in Orange which was well above the city's long-term maximum of 27.1.

Mr Morris said data in recent years shows that "summers are gradually increasing in heat".

The widespread drought also continued during the summer months, with many Central West locations recording well below average rainfall.

Currently, 77.4 per cent of the Central Tablelands is in drought while 22.6 is drought affected.

In the Central West the conditions are worse with 29.2 per cent of that region in intense drought, 67.6 per cent in drought, and 3.2 per cent drought affected.

Mr Morris said many dust storms had occurred during the summer due to the continuing drought.

"Because it's been so dry over the summer any little bit of wind picks up the dust," he said.

THE lack of rainfall in parts of the region this summer has left some farmers scratching their heads and worrying about the months ahead, while others have had it a little easier.

Hot, dry weather is a given every summer but the scorching temperatures that kept coming day after day challenged many Central West farmers.

Graziers, horticulturalists and agronomists right across the Central West were challenged this summer.

The long hot days might have been great for cherries at Guy Gaeta's orchard, but already he's lost 30 per cent of his gala apple crop due to very hot weather.

He runs an apple and cherry orchard on Orange's outskirts and said the spate of very hot weather in January had left many of his apples with sunburn.

"When they're sunburnt they go soft and you've got to throw them out," he said.

The lack of rainfall has meant that the dams on Mr Gaeta's farm were now at a critically-low level.

"We're down to our last week of water and then we'll run out which is not good because we've still got Fuji and pink ladies [apples] coming in a month," he said.

"When it's dry it [the tree] sucks the water back out of the fruit so the tree can survive.

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"It's not looking the best."

Mr Gaeta said another issue facing orchardists in the region is the return of flying foxes who destroy fruit as it becomes ripe.

"Once we start uncovering the trees we'll have to start chasing them out of the orchard," he said.

Decent rainfall in the Bathurst region during summer has meant grazier David McKay and his cattle have had a pretty good run these past three months.

"We had 26 millimetres in February, 121mm in January and 66 in December," he said.

Mr McKay said while the rain was patchy, he was happy with the 213mm he received during summer, even though it was slightly down on the 296mm recorded at Bathurst Airport by the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Mr McKay, who is also the NSW Farmers Association Bathurst branch president, said the last time he sold stock was around Christmas and he was currently weaning calves.

Thanks to the summer rain, the oat crops he planted have grown and that, along with stored hay, should get his cattle through the next few months.

Central West agronomist Glenn Shepherd said isolated falls during summer have helped some farmers, while others have missed out.

"It's very hard to build stored moisture for growth in the winter," he said.

Mr Shepherd said the continual scorching temperatures during January played havoc with crops across the Orana region.

"Overwhelmingly, the hot January was just ridiculous … it was just really brutal," he said.

Mr Shepherd said as summer ended there was still a lack of moisture in the ground and warm soils across the region.

Those with canola crops are having a particularly difficult time.

"This will be the second year in a row with little to no canola crop," he said.

As the horticulture committee chair for the NSW Farmers’ Association, Mr Gaeta has called on whoever wins at the upcoming state and federal elections to introduce better measures for horticulturalists.

"There's no grants available for horticulturalists to do works for water infrastructure, but graziers can get these grants," he said.

"What's the difference, our trees will die too."

AFTER a slightly wetter January than the previous few months, February was once again dry for the Dubbo region, receiving only 18.4 millimetres of rain across the month. 

The lack of rain has still not forced water restrictions to be brought in for the Dubbo Regional Council area. 

As of Sunday, March 3, Burrendong Dam was sitting at 7.5 per cent capacity.

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Dubbo Regional Council have said they were working with Water NSW and would only investigation water restrictions if necessary. Dubbo's town water supply comes from ground water and an allocation from Burrendong Dam. 

The trigger for water restrictions is when Water NSW reduces council's allocation from Burrendong below 100 per cent, which has not yet occurred. 

Earlier this year council did ask residents to be mindful of current drought conditions when using water, and to voluntarily reduce their water usage in order to extend the existing supplies for as long as possible.

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During the 2018-2019 summer period Dubbo received 117.2 millimetres of rain, with the majority falling during the month of January when 64.4 millimetres was recorded. 

In December 34.4 millimetres was recorded and in February 18.4 millimetres was received. 

The low rainfall was coupled with high temperatures, though no records were broken over the three months. The hottest temperature for summer was 44.6 degrees, recorded on January 16.

Dubbo also experienced eight days of temperatures over 40 degrees which ran from January 13 through to January 20. 

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