SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL – 16th October 2010

A supercell to Malta’s west splits and the one on the left produces some large hail for a few minutes at Mellieha. Confirmed largest hail was at least 2cm in diameter with possibly even a few larger ones too.

This thunderstorm produced 26.3mm of rainfall at Kalkara, 22.5mm at Zabbar, 22.4mm at Qormi, 21.6mm at Luqa, 20.5mm at Tarxien at 19.5mm at Mellieha. The only known damage at Mellieha was broken stained glass in a garden and leaves and small twigs broken off trees and plants. No other damage was reported. Smaller hail was also observed at St Paul’s Bay.

Highest gust during storm was of 62.7km/h from the WNW at 09:26Z. There was also an unconfirmed report of a funnel cloud at around 6.15pm on this same day at Gharb. Warning was issued.

PHOTOS TAKEN BY CHARMAINE TANTI, JOHN PAUL BONANNO, SANDRO BUGEJA & METEO MALTA