Maximum temperature records for the month of January were eclipsed at a host of Hunter weather stations on Saturday as a heatwave scorched the state.
The Bureau of Meteorology's data shows a regional high of 46.0 degrees was set at Tocal at 12.14pm, which broke the site's previous maximum temperature for the month of 44.4 set on January 28, 2013.
The hottest temperature ever recorded at the Tocal station was 47.0 degrees on February 11, 2017.
Another record fell at Williamtown, where a high of 45.5 degrees was reached at 4.10pm. The previous hottest temperature of 44.8 was recorded on January 18, 2013.
In the Upper Hunter, Merriwa's high of 44.2 was slightly hotter than the previous monthly record of 43.8 degrees set on January 18, 2013.
The 45.1 degrees reached at Maitland Airport at 11.27am broke the record of 44.5 hit on January 18, 2013, at the now closed Maitland Visitors Centre station.
Elsewhere in the Lower Hunter, Cessnock Airport and Cooranbong both reached 45.1 degrees to set new station records.
Scone Airport hit a top of 44.6, which was a new January record, while Singleton hit a high of 43.0 degrees and Murrurundi Gap 37.5.
Nobbys reached a high of 39.9 degrees at 10.31am but the temperature had dropped to 31.9 by 12.30pm.
There was a vast discrepancy between inland temperatures and those recorded by the sea on the Central Coast. Mangrove Mountain hit 45.1, while Norah Head only reached 29.5 degrees.
New all-time maximum temperature records were recorded for Sydney and Canberra. Penrith hit a staggering 48.9 degrees, toppling its own site record and the highest known temperature for the Sydney Basin for any month, a record dating back to 1939 when set at Richmond hit 47.8 degrees.
Canberra recorded a new hottest temperature for any month of 44.0. The previous Canberra record was 42.2C at Canberra Airport in 1968 and 42.8C at the now-closed Acton site in 1939.
The BOM was forecasting cooler temperatures in the Hunter this week. Newcastle was set to reach 25 degrees on Monday with a 50 per cent change of rain. There was a similar chance of rain at Scone, where temperatures were set to hit 32 degrees.
