The average wind speed last month at Zebbug Malta was of 12km/h with the highest gust reaching 61.1km/h from the southeast on 1st June at around noon. The most frequent direction was the westnorthwest.

On the 1st June a much stronger gust was measured at Mellieha with 83.2km/h (Force 9) at around 8.30am. Some rain was also measured.

SEA TEMPERATURE

The warm sunny weather also warmed up the sea considerably with the sea temperature now at a warm 21°C with many Maltese already taking the plunge to cool themselves in the sea from the hot air temperatures. The sea temperature is considered to be well above average for this time of the year.

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MAY 2009

With an average temperature of 20.9°C, May 2009 was just 0.5°C above average, thus making it only the 7th warmest May since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987.

The highest temperature recorded in May 2009 was 30.2°C on the 26th. However, this was far for the highest ever recorded. In fact, the highest May temperature ever since temperature records began in 1987 at Balzan was 37.3°C on 23rd May 2006.

During May 2009, the thermometer reached its lowest point at 13.0°C on the 5th of the month. At the same time, very close to the ground, at grass level, the lowest temperature there was 7.2°C. The coolest night since records began in 1987 was in May 1992 when the temperature hit a low of 10.5°C.

May 2009 was a very dry month with only 0.4mm of rainfall when the average is normally a bit higher at around 9.1mm. However, May 2009 broke no rainfall records as it is quite normal for May to have hardly any rain or even just a few drops of rain.

WIND AND DAMAGE

The average wind speed last month at Zebbug Malta was 10.0 km/h and the highest gust reached 53.7 km/h (Force 7) from the SE at 7.20am on the 15th of the month. A much stronger gust about an hour earlier was measured at Mellieha with 90.7km/h (Force 10). Thunder was heard early in the morning on the 15th of the month too.

In fact, that strong gust early in the morning on that day could easily have been a macroburst (strong descending wind) from the cumulonimbus clouds that caused that early morning thunderstorm, especially as the temperature increased appreciably and the humidity decreased substantially at exactly the same time. There were also some reports of some minor damage at Zurrieq caused by this strong wind.

April 2009 also proved to be the second wettest April on record since rainfall records began at Balzan in 1985. There were 10 days of rain (4 more days than the average) and the highest 24 hour rain total was 19.2mm on the 21st. There were also 2 days with thunderstorms, one of which consisted of just one lightning bolt that hit Mosta and surprised residents there early in the morning of the 23rd.

However, the wettest April ever was in 1994 with 163.1mm! Most of that rainfall had fallen during the night from 4^th to 5^th April 1994 when a violent storm had hit Malta.

That night, the torrential rain, coupled with winds which reached gusts of gale Force 9 in places, had uprooted trees, flooded houses and left hundreds of motorists stranded. It had also caused thousands of liri worth of damage to buildings and cars, and there were widespread power cuts.

Boats had been sunk at their moorings in various bays exposed to the wind. The wind, rough sea and huge waves had also smashed some windows in exposed areas. More than 60 cases of flooding had been reported to the police. 131.5 mm of rain had fallen during that night in Balzan. 

That storm had been attributed to a low pressure system which had formed over the Sahara which then intensified to the southeast of Malta, bringing the bad weather with it.

April 2009 also turned out to be a cool month with the mean monthly maximum temperature of 18.8°C being 1.2°C cooler than average. However, nights were slightly warmer than average with the mean monthly minimum temperature for April of 13.5°C being higher than average by 0.3°C. April 2009 was only the 6^th coldest April since temperatures records began in Balzan in 1985.

The warmest day in April was on the 25th when the maximum temperature went up to 24.1°C. The coldest night was on the 3^rd when the temperature went down to 10.4°C. The hottest ever April temperature was of 31.7°C on the 11^th April 2008.

The average wind speed at Zebbug Malta throughout April was of 15.5km/h with the highest wind speed going up to 81.4km/h (Force 9) on the 12th. However, there was a maximum wind speed of 116.6km/h (Force 11) at Mellieha on the 27^th as a weak cold front passed over the Maltese Islands. 

Interestingly, there were 4 days with what is known as blood rain. Blood rain is rain mixed with red-coloured sand from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa. On windy days when the wind is blowing strongly from a southerly direction, sand is carried over to the Maltese Islands and beyond. If in also rains the sand comes down with the rain, hence the term ‘blood rain’ since the Sahara Desert sand is reddish in colour.

The mean temperature last month was 14.2°C which is 0.4°C colder than the average since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987.

In fact, for a good part of the month, the mean air temperature hovered below the mean March average. The warmest March since 1987 was that of 2001 with 17.1°C and the coldest was that of 2003 with 13.1°C.

March days, with an average high of 16.9°C, were 0.9°C colder than the March mean since 1987. The warmest day was the 31^st of the month with a temperature of 24.4°C. The warmest March day on record was in 2001 when a high of 33.5°C was reached on the 25^th of the month. 

March nights, with a mean of 11.4°C, were practically average. The lowest temperature reached was 8.2°C just before dawn of the 22^nd. However, the 9^th of March 1993 with a low of 4.8°C is the coldest March night since 1987.

A daily record of the lowest temperature at grass height level is also kept. The coldest it got at grass height was 2.2°C on the 6^th. The lowest temperature ever recorded at that height in March was 1.3 degrees below freezing on 9^th March 2008. 

A total of 28.4 mm of rain fell last month - this is 7.5 mm less than the average for the month since rainfall records began in 1985. The wettest March on record was that of 1996 when a total of 125.0 mm of was recorded whilst the driest was that of 2000 with just 4.7 mm. March 2009 had 6 days with thunderstorms, 3 days with hail and 2 days with fog.

The mean wind speed last month at Zebbug was 17km/h from the west. The highest gust, recorded on the 4^th, was 109.2km/h (59 knots) from a southerly direction. This wind gust, was registered at 21.53 local time, caused some damage, including damage to the historical Xarolla windmill and the protective shelter being installed over Mnajdra Temples.

These very strong winds on the 4^th were caused by a deep low pressure system with central pressure of 989hPa passing to the north of the Maltese Islands dragging with it a warm front late on Wednesday 4th March 2009 which brought with it some scattered rain and a rather humid and warm air mass. This was followed by the passage of a cold front bringing with it a strong veering of winds.

The very strong winds on the last day of the month at around 4.15am were or a different nature and were caused by a dry microburst from high-based thunderstorms. More information on these 2 storms can be found at www.maltastorms.com

February 2009 was colder and wetter than usual although it broke no records. This cold weather had in fact persisted for most of the second part of the month.

Mean temperatures for February showed air temperatures to be 1.0°C below average when compared to the normal February mean since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987. In fact, the mean temperature was of 11.9°C compared to the average of 12.9°C. The coldest February ever was in 2003 when the mean monthly temperature was of 10.8°C.

However, the extreme minimum temperature of 5.3°C at Balzan was not a record. The coldest February day on record since 1987 at Balzan was on 1^st February 1999 when the extreme minimum temperature fell to 2.6C. There was also extreme minimum temperatures last month of 4.1°C at Rabat (Malta) and Nadur (Gozo).

The warmest day last month was on the 5^th when the temperature peaked at 20.1°C.

A total of 106.5 mm of rain were recorded at Balzan last month. The average rainfall in February since rainfall started being recorded in Balzan in 1985 is of 63.1 mm. The wettest day was on the 24^th of the month with 40.1mm. The wettest February on record was that of 1996 with 181.3 mm and the driest was that of 1990 with a total of just 1.5 mm.

Thunder was heard on 4 days last month and there were 9 days with hail, which was well above the average number of days with hail for the month of February.

The average wind speed last month at Zebbug Malta was of 16km/h and the most frequent direction was the West-Northwest. The highest gust, that of 72.2km/h was experience on the 12^th of the month. There was also a gust of 101.8km/h at Mellieha the evening before.