The frosts are back and those freezing nights look like they'll never end, but this July has been an unseasonably warm one.
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Orange hit a very spring-like top temperature of 15 degrees on Monday, July 17 - well above the long term average maximum for July of 9.5 degrees.
That top marker has been wedged in the middle of a long run of warm days for an Orange winter.
Since July 12 when Orange hit a peak of 14.5 degrees, the top temperature in the city has been well above average, with Thursday's top temperature still in double figures, although much cooler at 10.3 degrees.
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All in all, that run of nine un-winter-like days has pushed Orange's average a top temperature up to 11 degrees so far this July - 1.5 degrees above average.
On the flip side of this, last July was absolutely bitter.
That 15 degree day is significant too. Since the Bureau of Meteorology's main weather station shifted to the Orange Airport in the late 1990s, it's rare to see a July day reach that mark.
![Forbes' Mel Cowhan and Joelene Grace at the football at Wade Park on a sunny July afternoon. Picture by Carla Freedman Forbes' Mel Cowhan and Joelene Grace at the football at Wade Park on a sunny July afternoon. Picture by Carla Freedman](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GHcbaSNijNeVS4SULWDX8n/16943fdc-0586-4f1e-a8f9-db1be0def2e3.JPG/r0_605_8256_5265_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In fact, less than 10 per cent of maximum temperatures in July have reached and smashed through that 15-degrees ceiling.
Orange's top temperature for July recorded at the airport is 16.3 degrees, recorded on July 30, 2017.
The July record for the city is 18.3 degrees on July 30, 1960. That top temperature was recorded at the old post office station.
It's a genuine outlier, too. The next highest July temperature drops significantly, down to 16.5 degrees on July 7, 1994. That was recorded at the Ag Institute station.
A Weatherzone.com spokesperson said the current run of above average maximum temperatures Orange is enjoying for July is abnormally long.
He said a prolonged stretch of high pressure systems over Australia has allowed a lot of sunshine during the day, however the cold mornings have remained a winter feature too.
Looking ahead, the run of above average temperatures looks set to continue.
Following a chance of some rain on Saturday and Sunday, a sunny working week will kick off on Monday with a top of 12 degrees, before reaching a top of 14 degrees come Wednesday.
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