2005: Weather
Meteorologist Mark Vella Gera from MaltaWeather.com takes a look back at the changing weather patterns throughout the year 2005.
Another cool month!
At a mean temperature of 17.7°C, November was 0.3°C cooler than the average since 1987. The warmest November since 1987 at Balzan was that of 1992 with a mean temperature of 19.5 °C. The coolest November since 1987 was that of 1998 with an average of 16.1°C.
November's average minimum temperature of 14.9°C was exactly the average for November. The warmest night was on the 15th with a low of 18.6°C. The coldest nights were on the 21st, 25th and 29th of November, all 3 nights having a minimum temperature of 10.1°C.
The chilliest November night on record was in 1995 when at dawn of the 23rd the temperature dropped to just 5.7°C above freezing.
Last month the highest temperature reached at Balzan was 24.3°C on the 2nd November. The highest November temperature ever reached since records began in 1987 was 28.9°C in 1990.
With an average of six hours and 36 minutes of bright sunshine a day, November was sunnier than usual. This meant a total of two hours more sunshine than an average November. The brightest day was the 9th with almost 10 hours while the dullest was the 24th with barely 6 minutes of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy day.
With 16 rainy days and a total of 77.0mm, rainfall was well short of the average for the month by 42.2mm. The heaviest downpour, 29.2mm, occurred on the 13th November. The wettest November since 1985 was that of 1999 when 383.4 mm drenched the Maltese Islands.
Warm nights in October
October nights were warmer than average by 0.6°C. The average night temperature was 19.1°C, more than half a degree warmer than the average of the past 18 years.
The warmest night last month was that between the 21st and 22nd when the temperature reached 22.7°C. The last night of the month was the coolest with the mercury creeping down to 15.4°C.
A total of 85.2mm of rain was measured throughout the month but almost half of that was recorded within a few minutes on the morning of October 4. The wettest October since 1985 was that of 1994 when 233.0mm of rain drenched the Maltese islands.
The average daily maximum temperature last month was 24.1°C. This was just under one degree lower than the average coolest temperature recorded since 1985, October 1996, which had an average temperature during the day of 23.2°C.
The warmest October days recorded were in 1990, at an average daily temperature of 27.6°C.
September warm at first, then cool
September 2005 was another cool month, even though it began with rather warm and humid days in the first 2 weeks. On the whole days were cooler than average while nights were warmer, almost as warm as nights last month! The mean maximum temperature of 27.5°C was 1.2 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 21.9°C was 0.4 degrees above average. This means that the mean monthly temperature of 24.7°C was 0.4 degrees below average.
The temperature reached a high of 31.0°C at Balzan on 18th September, while the highest August temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 39.2°C in 1990. The coldest night was on the last day of the month, when the temperature went down to 18.3°C. The temperature dropped to a chilly 15.4°C in September 2004, the coolest September night on record.
September 2005 was, as predicted by us, a dry month with just 16.9mm of rain at Balzan. This was only 23% of the average rainfall for September. Some other places in Malta and Gozo had substantially more rainfall.
Very cool August
August 2005 was a very cool month with below average temperatures for this time of the year. The mean maximum temperature of 29.0°C was 1.9 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 22.9°C was 0.6 degrees below average. This made the mean monthly temperature of 26.0°C, 1.7 degrees below average. This August 2005 was the coolest August since records began at Balzan in 1987.
The temperature reached a high of 35.5°C at Balzan on 2nd August, while the highest August temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 43.0°C in 1999.
On the 27th of the month the lowest night-time temperature of 20.3°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 18.0°C in August 1997, the coolest August night on record.
August is usually a dry month with just an average rainfall of 7.0 mm. However, last month was wetter than average when 10.7 mm of rain were measured at Balzan.
Coolest August day!
The rainy weather has sent temperatures tumbling and yesterday was one of the coolest August days since records began at Balzan in 1987 - a mere 23.9°C.
The Civil Protection Department was kept quite busy in the morning assisting drivers out of their cars, mostly those stuck in rising waters along the old road leading to Marsascala and Marsa. CPD director Peter Cordina reported no injuries but said 22 drivers had to be rescued in Marsascala and another 10 in Marsa.
Car breakdown companies were inundated with calls from motorists who were stranded. RMF representative Robert Debattista said the the company received double the amount of calls they get on an average day. "Though there were no heavy floods we still received about 160 calls for help, with the south of the island proving to be the most problematic area." An MTC spokesman said his company received 48 calls from stranded drivers and two trucks helped 32 vehicles - the others had managed to resolve the problem.
This bad weather came about because of a trough of low pressure in the upper atmosphere over the northern-central Mediterranean in the weekend, which led to the formation of an extensive unstable and moist air mass over the central Mediterranean.
Malta yesterday experienced its second consecutive day of rain and it poured heavily for a couple of hours in several areas, with 43.4mm in Paola, 37.4mm in Vittoriosa and 25.8mm in Zabbar.
The watercourse built by workers of the Infrastructure Ministry between Qormi and Marsa and served to alleviate the flooding. During the summer months, ministry employees carried out major cleaning works in various valleys as part of the storm water project introduced by Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit in September 2003.
Average July
July 2005 was a normal month with average temperatures for this time of the year. The mean maximum temperature of 31.0°C was 0.6 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 23.3°C was 0.7 degrees above average. This made the mean monthly temperature of 27.2°C was just 0.1 degrees above average.
The temperature reached a high of 35.2°C at Balzan on 1st July, while the highest July temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 43.1°C in 1988.
As mentioned above July nights were warmer than average. On the 4th of the month the lowest night-time temperature of 21.6°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 17.4°C in July 1992, the coolest July night on record.
July is usually a dry month with just an average rainfall of 0.2 mm. However, last month was even drier when just trace mm of rain were measured.
Coolest June since 1987!
Last month was the coolest June since 1992 as regards maximum temperatures. The mean maximum temperature of 26.8°C was almost 2 degrees below average and was equal to the lowest mean maximum temperature for June ever recorded since records began in 1987 at Balzan. The mean maximum temperature was also 26.8°C in 1992.
The temperature reached a high of 33.0°C at Balzan on 29th June, while the highest June temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 39.8°C in 1997.
June nights were however slightly warmer than the average. On the 11th of the month the lowest night-time temperature, of 16.6°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 14.8°C in June 1990, the coolest June night on record.
June is usually quite a dry month with an average rainfall of 2.6 mm. However, last month was even drier when just 0.8 mm were measured on 18th June.
An average but dry May
May was an average month with the mean temperature being just 0.2°C above the average since 1987. It was also a very dry month with just 1.9mm of rain, when compared to the average of 10.7mm. The wettest May ever, since Balzan Weather Station started keeping records in 1985, was in 1993 with 34.3mm.
With a mean temperature of 20.5°C, May was just above average; this temperature is 0.2°C above the the average. May last year was 1.6°C cooler. The warmest May since 1987 was that in 1999 with a mean temperature of 21.6°C and the coolest was in 1991 with 17.8°C.
The warmest day last month was on the 11th, when the mercury at Balzan climbed to 28.8°C. The warmest May day ever recorded was in 1994 when 34.5°C was reached. In May 1991 the mercury just managed to reach 16.1°C, making this day the coolest May day on record. The coolest May night on record since 1987 was that of May 1992 with a low of 10.5°C.
For most of the month of May a series of high pressure systems covered the central Mediterranean for most of the month, leading to an extensive period of settled weather. This was, however, briefly disrupted when a series of depressions or low pressure systems migrated from the north of the Italian peninsula towards the Greek archipelago between May 5 and 9 and again on May 18. For almost 89 per cent of the time the wind was light to moderate.
The westnorthwest was the most frequent wind direction with an average wind speed, at Balzan, of 9.4 kilometres an hour. The strongest gust recorded on May 6 reached 62.9 kilometres per hour at Balzan and 82.0 kilometres per hour from the westnorthwest.
The lowest grass-height temperature - which is the temperature close to the ground - was 6.7°C on 4th May. The lowest ever recorded grass-height temperature in May was 5.7°C in 1991.
May saw an average of 10 hours and 30 minutes of sunshine a day, which means 31 hours more sunshine than during an average May. The brightest day was May 22 with 12 hours and 54 minutes. May 12 was the dullest with barely one hour of sunshine.
A Cool April
With an average temperature of 16.0°C, April was quite a cool month when compared to previous years. In the past 10 years, only April 1997 was slightly cooler, with 14.7°C being the average. In fact April 1997 was the coolest April ever recorded at Balzan ever since records began in 1987. The warmest was April 1988 and 1998 with 17.5°C.
The warmest day last month was 26th April, when the mercury hit 26.8°C. The warmest April day ever recorded was in April 1999 when temperatures hit a warm 29.4°C. Just before sunrise on 23rd April, temperatures reached the lowest point and stood at a chilly 9.3°C. The coolest night on record since 1987 was in April 1997 with a low of 6.5°C.
The predominant weather feature last month was an anticyclone covering most of Europe and sometimes extending towards the western Mediterranean with a series of depressions or low pressure systems over north and northwest Africa. For a few days in the middle of the month, a complex low pressure system covered the area from northern Italy to central Libya. However, most of the weather it generated was over the Italian peninsula and most of south eastern Europe.
It was a rather quiet month with regard to the wind and for 89 per cent of the time it was light to moderate. The wind blew mostly from the west northwest. The average wind speed at Balzan was 10.9 kilometres per hour and the strongest gust recorded was on 10th April when it reached 64.3 kilometres per hour (82km/h at Nadur Gozo).
The lowest grass height temperature last month was 3.4°C on 23rd April. The lowest ever recorded April grass height temperature was 1.1°C in April 1997.
March Slightly Colder Than Average
The average temperature of 13.8°C recorded in March at Balzan was slightly lower than the average for that month. However, although the first third of the month was about three degrees centigrade cooler than average, the latter part was around two degrees warmer. With a total rainfall of 11.3 millimetres, March was rather dry.
The average March rainfall since 1985 at Balzan is 35.3 millimetres. This makes the total rainfall last month about 32% of the average. The wettest March was that of 1996 with 125 mm.
The highest temperature recorded at Balzan last month was 23.3°C on 27th March. The warmest March day since records began in 1987 was that in March 2001 when the mercury peaked at 33.5°C. The thermometer last month dipped to its lowest point at 5.7°C on 3rd March, while the coldest ever was in March 1993 with 4.8°C.
For most of last month, barring a few days, a vast anticyclone or area of high atmospheric pressure was the predominant feature. This covered most of western Europe and the Mediterranean and produced fine weather over most of the area - ideal conditions for the formation of fog. In fact there were six days last month when fog hid the airport. This is an unusually high number of fog days for March, as previously only 1981 and 1961 had a similar amount.
Second Coldest February since 1988!
February 2005 was the second coldest February since records began at Balzan in 1988, with an average of 11.2°C coupled with a record number of days when hail pelted the islands.
The coldest night last month was the 6th, when the air temperature plummeted to a chilly 5.2°C. The coldest days were 16th and 17th February when the maximum temperature only rose to 10.9°C. The highest temperature was 19.1°C, recorded on 25th February.
Hail fell on 5 days last month - a record! Thunderstorms were also more common than average last month - 6 days as opposed to the average 3 days for February. A total of 101.3 millimetres of rain fell during the month - a very wet month with 157% of the average. The wettest February since 1985 was that of 1996 with 181.3 millimetres and the driest was in 1990 with just 1.5 millimetres.
February was also quite a windy one with almost one third of the time blowing at moderate to strong gusts. The average speed was 12.3kph. The highest gust was 56.3kph at Balzan and 80.4kph at Nadur from an easterly direction.
There was just an average of 4.6 hours of sunshine a day, with the sunniest day being the 26th with 8.7 hours of sunshine. There were 3 days with sunshine of less than one hour.
Coldest January since 1988!
Last month was the coolest January since records began at Balzan in 1988, with temperatures stuck at an average of 11.6°C coupled with a record number of days when hail pelted the islands.
The coldest night last month was the 18th, when the air temperature plummeted to a chilly 5.4°C. The coldest day was 26th January when the maximum temperature only rose to 10.1°C. The highest temperature was 17.3°C, recorded on 8th January.
Hail fell on 4 days last month. Thunderstorms were also more common than average last month - 5 days as opposed to the average 4 days for January. A total of 52.8 millimetres of rain fell during the month - a somewhat dry month with just 57% of the average. The wettest January since 1985 was that of 1990 with 209.5 millimetres and the driest was in 1987 with 24.6 millimetres.
January was also quite a windy one with almost one third of the time blowing at moderate to strong gusts. The average speed was 9.9kph. The highest gust was 57.9kph at Balzan and 72.4kph at Nadur from a north-westerly direction.
There was just an average of 4.3 hours of sunshine a day, with the sunniest days being the 12th and the 14th, both with 8.5 hours of sunshine. There were 4 days with sunshine of less than one hour.
Meteorologist Mark Vella Gera from MaltaWeather.com takes a look back at the changing weather patterns throughout the year 2005.
Another cool month!
At a mean temperature of 17.7°C, November was 0.3°C cooler than the average since 1987. The warmest November since 1987 at Balzan was that of 1992 with a mean temperature of 19.5 °C. The coolest November since 1987 was that of 1998 with an average of 16.1°C.
November's average minimum temperature of 14.9°C was exactly the average for November. The warmest night was on the 15th with a low of 18.6°C. The coldest nights were on the 21st, 25th and 29th of November, all 3 nights having a minimum temperature of 10.1°C.
The chilliest November night on record was in 1995 when at dawn of the 23rd the temperature dropped to just 5.7°C above freezing.
Last month the highest temperature reached at Balzan was 24.3°C on the 2nd November. The highest November temperature ever reached since records began in 1987 was 28.9°C in 1990.
With an average of six hours and 36 minutes of bright sunshine a day, November was sunnier than usual. This meant a total of two hours more sunshine than an average November. The brightest day was the 9th with almost 10 hours while the dullest was the 24th with barely 6 minutes of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy day.
With 16 rainy days and a total of 77.0mm, rainfall was well short of the average for the month by 42.2mm. The heaviest downpour, 29.2mm, occurred on the 13th November. The wettest November since 1985 was that of 1999 when 383.4 mm drenched the Maltese Islands.
Warm nights in October
October nights were warmer than average by 0.6°C. The average night temperature was 19.1°C, more than half a degree warmer than the average of the past 18 years.
The warmest night last month was that between the 21st and 22nd when the temperature reached 22.7°C. The last night of the month was the coolest with the mercury creeping down to 15.4°C.
A total of 85.2mm of rain was measured throughout the month but almost half of that was recorded within a few minutes on the morning of October 4. The wettest October since 1985 was that of 1994 when 233.0mm of rain drenched the Maltese islands.
The average daily maximum temperature last month was 24.1°C. This was just under one degree lower than the average coolest temperature recorded since 1985, October 1996, which had an average temperature during the day of 23.2°C.
The warmest October days recorded were in 1990, at an average daily temperature of 27.6°C.
September warm at first, then cool
September 2005 was another cool month, even though it began with rather warm and humid days in the first 2 weeks. On the whole days were cooler than average while nights were warmer, almost as warm as nights last month! The mean maximum temperature of 27.5°C was 1.2 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 21.9°C was 0.4 degrees above average. This means that the mean monthly temperature of 24.7°C was 0.4 degrees below average.
The temperature reached a high of 31.0°C at Balzan on 18th September, while the highest August temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 39.2°C in 1990. The coldest night was on the last day of the month, when the temperature went down to 18.3°C. The temperature dropped to a chilly 15.4°C in September 2004, the coolest September night on record.
September 2005 was, as predicted by us, a dry month with just 16.9mm of rain at Balzan. This was only 23% of the average rainfall for September. Some other places in Malta and Gozo had substantially more rainfall.
Very cool August
August 2005 was a very cool month with below average temperatures for this time of the year. The mean maximum temperature of 29.0°C was 1.9 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 22.9°C was 0.6 degrees below average. This made the mean monthly temperature of 26.0°C, 1.7 degrees below average. This August 2005 was the coolest August since records began at Balzan in 1987.
The temperature reached a high of 35.5°C at Balzan on 2nd August, while the highest August temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 43.0°C in 1999.
On the 27th of the month the lowest night-time temperature of 20.3°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 18.0°C in August 1997, the coolest August night on record.
August is usually a dry month with just an average rainfall of 7.0 mm. However, last month was wetter than average when 10.7 mm of rain were measured at Balzan.
Coolest August day!
The rainy weather has sent temperatures tumbling and yesterday was one of the coolest August days since records began at Balzan in 1987 - a mere 23.9°C.
The Civil Protection Department was kept quite busy in the morning assisting drivers out of their cars, mostly those stuck in rising waters along the old road leading to Marsascala and Marsa. CPD director Peter Cordina reported no injuries but said 22 drivers had to be rescued in Marsascala and another 10 in Marsa.
Car breakdown companies were inundated with calls from motorists who were stranded. RMF representative Robert Debattista said the the company received double the amount of calls they get on an average day. "Though there were no heavy floods we still received about 160 calls for help, with the south of the island proving to be the most problematic area." An MTC spokesman said his company received 48 calls from stranded drivers and two trucks helped 32 vehicles - the others had managed to resolve the problem.
This bad weather came about because of a trough of low pressure in the upper atmosphere over the northern-central Mediterranean in the weekend, which led to the formation of an extensive unstable and moist air mass over the central Mediterranean.
Malta yesterday experienced its second consecutive day of rain and it poured heavily for a couple of hours in several areas, with 43.4mm in Paola, 37.4mm in Vittoriosa and 25.8mm in Zabbar.
The watercourse built by workers of the Infrastructure Ministry between Qormi and Marsa and served to alleviate the flooding. During the summer months, ministry employees carried out major cleaning works in various valleys as part of the storm water project introduced by Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit in September 2003.
Average July
July 2005 was a normal month with average temperatures for this time of the year. The mean maximum temperature of 31.0°C was 0.6 degrees below average, while the mean minimum temperature of 23.3°C was 0.7 degrees above average. This made the mean monthly temperature of 27.2°C was just 0.1 degrees above average.
The temperature reached a high of 35.2°C at Balzan on 1st July, while the highest July temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 43.1°C in 1988.
As mentioned above July nights were warmer than average. On the 4th of the month the lowest night-time temperature of 21.6°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 17.4°C in July 1992, the coolest July night on record.
July is usually a dry month with just an average rainfall of 0.2 mm. However, last month was even drier when just trace mm of rain were measured.
Coolest June since 1987!
Last month was the coolest June since 1992 as regards maximum temperatures. The mean maximum temperature of 26.8°C was almost 2 degrees below average and was equal to the lowest mean maximum temperature for June ever recorded since records began in 1987 at Balzan. The mean maximum temperature was also 26.8°C in 1992.
The temperature reached a high of 33.0°C at Balzan on 29th June, while the highest June temperature measured since records began in 1987 was 39.8°C in 1997.
June nights were however slightly warmer than the average. On the 11th of the month the lowest night-time temperature, of 16.6°C, was reached. The temperature dropped to a chilly 14.8°C in June 1990, the coolest June night on record.
June is usually quite a dry month with an average rainfall of 2.6 mm. However, last month was even drier when just 0.8 mm were measured on 18th June.
An average but dry May
May was an average month with the mean temperature being just 0.2°C above the average since 1987. It was also a very dry month with just 1.9mm of rain, when compared to the average of 10.7mm. The wettest May ever, since Balzan Weather Station started keeping records in 1985, was in 1993 with 34.3mm.
With a mean temperature of 20.5°C, May was just above average; this temperature is 0.2°C above the the average. May last year was 1.6°C cooler. The warmest May since 1987 was that in 1999 with a mean temperature of 21.6°C and the coolest was in 1991 with 17.8°C.
The warmest day last month was on the 11th, when the mercury at Balzan climbed to 28.8°C. The warmest May day ever recorded was in 1994 when 34.5°C was reached. In May 1991 the mercury just managed to reach 16.1°C, making this day the coolest May day on record. The coolest May night on record since 1987 was that of May 1992 with a low of 10.5°C.
For most of the month of May a series of high pressure systems covered the central Mediterranean for most of the month, leading to an extensive period of settled weather. This was, however, briefly disrupted when a series of depressions or low pressure systems migrated from the north of the Italian peninsula towards the Greek archipelago between May 5 and 9 and again on May 18. For almost 89 per cent of the time the wind was light to moderate.
The westnorthwest was the most frequent wind direction with an average wind speed, at Balzan, of 9.4 kilometres an hour. The strongest gust recorded on May 6 reached 62.9 kilometres per hour at Balzan and 82.0 kilometres per hour from the westnorthwest.
The lowest grass-height temperature - which is the temperature close to the ground - was 6.7°C on 4th May. The lowest ever recorded grass-height temperature in May was 5.7°C in 1991.
May saw an average of 10 hours and 30 minutes of sunshine a day, which means 31 hours more sunshine than during an average May. The brightest day was May 22 with 12 hours and 54 minutes. May 12 was the dullest with barely one hour of sunshine.
A Cool April
With an average temperature of 16.0°C, April was quite a cool month when compared to previous years. In the past 10 years, only April 1997 was slightly cooler, with 14.7°C being the average. In fact April 1997 was the coolest April ever recorded at Balzan ever since records began in 1987. The warmest was April 1988 and 1998 with 17.5°C.
The warmest day last month was 26th April, when the mercury hit 26.8°C. The warmest April day ever recorded was in April 1999 when temperatures hit a warm 29.4°C. Just before sunrise on 23rd April, temperatures reached the lowest point and stood at a chilly 9.3°C. The coolest night on record since 1987 was in April 1997 with a low of 6.5°C.
The predominant weather feature last month was an anticyclone covering most of Europe and sometimes extending towards the western Mediterranean with a series of depressions or low pressure systems over north and northwest Africa. For a few days in the middle of the month, a complex low pressure system covered the area from northern Italy to central Libya. However, most of the weather it generated was over the Italian peninsula and most of south eastern Europe.
It was a rather quiet month with regard to the wind and for 89 per cent of the time it was light to moderate. The wind blew mostly from the west northwest. The average wind speed at Balzan was 10.9 kilometres per hour and the strongest gust recorded was on 10th April when it reached 64.3 kilometres per hour (82km/h at Nadur Gozo).
The lowest grass height temperature last month was 3.4°C on 23rd April. The lowest ever recorded April grass height temperature was 1.1°C in April 1997.
March Slightly Colder Than Average
The average temperature of 13.8°C recorded in March at Balzan was slightly lower than the average for that month. However, although the first third of the month was about three degrees centigrade cooler than average, the latter part was around two degrees warmer. With a total rainfall of 11.3 millimetres, March was rather dry.
The average March rainfall since 1985 at Balzan is 35.3 millimetres. This makes the total rainfall last month about 32% of the average. The wettest March was that of 1996 with 125 mm.
The highest temperature recorded at Balzan last month was 23.3°C on 27th March. The warmest March day since records began in 1987 was that in March 2001 when the mercury peaked at 33.5°C. The thermometer last month dipped to its lowest point at 5.7°C on 3rd March, while the coldest ever was in March 1993 with 4.8°C.
For most of last month, barring a few days, a vast anticyclone or area of high atmospheric pressure was the predominant feature. This covered most of western Europe and the Mediterranean and produced fine weather over most of the area - ideal conditions for the formation of fog. In fact there were six days last month when fog hid the airport. This is an unusually high number of fog days for March, as previously only 1981 and 1961 had a similar amount.
Second Coldest February since 1988!
February 2005 was the second coldest February since records began at Balzan in 1988, with an average of 11.2°C coupled with a record number of days when hail pelted the islands.
The coldest night last month was the 6th, when the air temperature plummeted to a chilly 5.2°C. The coldest days were 16th and 17th February when the maximum temperature only rose to 10.9°C. The highest temperature was 19.1°C, recorded on 25th February.
Hail fell on 5 days last month - a record! Thunderstorms were also more common than average last month - 6 days as opposed to the average 3 days for February. A total of 101.3 millimetres of rain fell during the month - a very wet month with 157% of the average. The wettest February since 1985 was that of 1996 with 181.3 millimetres and the driest was in 1990 with just 1.5 millimetres.
February was also quite a windy one with almost one third of the time blowing at moderate to strong gusts. The average speed was 12.3kph. The highest gust was 56.3kph at Balzan and 80.4kph at Nadur from an easterly direction.
There was just an average of 4.6 hours of sunshine a day, with the sunniest day being the 26th with 8.7 hours of sunshine. There were 3 days with sunshine of less than one hour.
Coldest January since 1988!
Last month was the coolest January since records began at Balzan in 1988, with temperatures stuck at an average of 11.6°C coupled with a record number of days when hail pelted the islands.
The coldest night last month was the 18th, when the air temperature plummeted to a chilly 5.4°C. The coldest day was 26th January when the maximum temperature only rose to 10.1°C. The highest temperature was 17.3°C, recorded on 8th January.
Hail fell on 4 days last month. Thunderstorms were also more common than average last month - 5 days as opposed to the average 4 days for January. A total of 52.8 millimetres of rain fell during the month - a somewhat dry month with just 57% of the average. The wettest January since 1985 was that of 1990 with 209.5 millimetres and the driest was in 1987 with 24.6 millimetres.
January was also quite a windy one with almost one third of the time blowing at moderate to strong gusts. The average speed was 9.9kph. The highest gust was 57.9kph at Balzan and 72.4kph at Nadur from a north-westerly direction.
There was just an average of 4.3 hours of sunshine a day, with the sunniest days being the 12th and the 14th, both with 8.5 hours of sunshine. There were 4 days with sunshine of less than one hour.