Sydney experienced its second warmest calendar year on record during 2017. Below average rainfall and higher than usual temperatures were a trend across most of NSW last year, despite the last minute appearance of La Nina, which can cause the opposite conditions in eastern Australia. Sydney's mean temperature of 19.5 degrees during 2017 was 1.7 degrees above the long term average and the second highest value in 158 years of records. The warmest year on record was 2016, with a mean temperature of 19.6 degrees. Last year was also Sydney's 25th consecutive warmer than average year based on mean temperature. In terms of rainfall, Sydney collected a total of 1076mm throughout 2017. This is about 90 per cent of its long term average and the lowest annual total in three years. Despite good rain during February, March and June, the city registered less than half of its long-term average rainfall between July and December, including its driest September on record.