This week is going to be another scorcher.

The Bureau of Meteorology has crunched the numbers for October while we await the first real rain of the wet season.

Any examination of rain maps over the past week reveals Katherine has again missed out on the early flurry.

The forecast for this week suggests temperatures will rise again this week to more than 40 degrees later in the week.

The "chance" of rain continues if a storm happens to hit Katherine head-on and not veer away as they so often do this early in the season.

The bureau said daytime temperatures were above average throughout virtually all of the Northern Territory in October.

Overnight temperatures were cooler than average across the Top End, but mostly above average further south.

Rainfall was below average across most of the NT during the month.

Katherine historically averages almost 30mm during October but only received that 0.4mm late in the month.

The November average is 93mm although the bureau has already warned to expect a later wet season.

Many sites across the NT had their highest October temperature and/or highest October mean daily maximum temperature on record.

For several sites in the Top End, including Middle Point and Tindal, the highest daily maximums for October were also annual highest temperatures on record.

Overnight (minimum) temperatures were up to 4 °C above average in the southern NT but generally less than average in the northern half and 1-3 °C below average across the eastern Top End. Territory-wide, the mean minimum temperature was 1.04 °C above the long-term average.

Across the NT, the mean (maximum and minimum combined) temperature was 1.67 °C above the long-term average and eighth-highest on record.

Several sites in the Top End had either their lowest October temperature or lowest October mean daily minimum temperature on record.

The year-to-date mean maximum temperature is currently the second-highest on record, 1.75 °C above the long-term average. The year-to-date mean minimum temperature is 0.95 °C above average and the mean temperature is tracking at 1.35 °C above average (fourth-highest on record).

Most of the Territory had less than 40 per cent of average rainfall.

Apart from some relatively small regions across the central NT and Top End, rainfall was below average throughout.

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