February 2010 was the second driest February on record since rainfall records began at Balzan in 1985. February 2010 only received 9.7mm compared with the average of 61.0mm. There were only 8 days with measurable rain (in all cases it was only light rain) and 3 of those involved brief thunderstorms. The driest ever February was in 1990 with a mere 1.5mm of rainfall.

February 2010 was also warmer than average with the last 9 days of the month being the warmest ever for February and similar to what we experienced in the first 10 days of January, resembling spring days rather than winter ones! The mean monthly temperature of 14.5°C was 1.5°C above average. The warmest day was of 24.1°C on the 18th while the coldest night was of 6.3°C on the 3rd.

In fact, 18th February 2010 was the warmest ever February day since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987 with a maximum temperature of 24.1°C at around 2.45pm - this was around 8°C above average. This record warm temperature was due to warm and dusty southerly winds these past two days bringing hot African air over the central Mediterranean. The previous warmest February day was on 20th February 2004 when the maximum temperature went up to 23.4°C.

The average wind speed in February at Zebbug Malta was 18.0 km/h and the most frequent direction was west. The highest wind gust at Zebbug (Malta) was 72.2km/h on the 10th from the WSW with the highest gust at Mellieha reaching 103.6km/h from the northwest on the 1st during a thunderstorm.

January 2010 was dry and warm with the mean monthly temperature at Balzan of 13.9°C being 0.7°C above average. Rainfall in January was 77% of average with 73.7mm compared with the average of 95.7mm. However, there were 20 days of rain, although only in the light and moderate category, as no heavy rain falls were recorded at all. There were 4 days with thunderstorms and only one day with hail.

January 2010 was warmer than average although this was observed mainly at night as the maximum temperatures at Balzan were cooler than average by 0.2°C. The highest temperature was 20.5°C on the 8th, while the lowest was 7.4°C on the 24th. The first 10 days in January were particularly dry and warm and resembled spring days rather than winter ones with maximum temperatures regularly hitting 19°C and 20°C. The weather then settled down to more normal January weather for the rest of the month.

The average wind speed in January at Zebbug Malta was 18.0 km/h and the most frequent direction was west. The highest wind gust at Zebbug (Malta) was 81.4km/h on the 8th with the highest gust at Mellieha even reaching 104.0km/h on the 13th during strong gale force winds. On the 13th January, a low pressure system of 998hPa passed from west to east over Sicily and was the cause of the gale force winds experience late overnight.

Some damage was caused with trees uprooted, paving tiles dislodged by the rough sea and debris washed ashore. At Marsalforn Gozo, the road along the beach was impassable as the seas dislodged the promenade's tiling, dragging some of the slabs onto the road. A concrete block holding some of the railings was also overturned.

Ċirkewwa also suffered structural damage as concrete slabs bordering the sea were broken apart and torn off their steel mesh. At least two cars were scratched and dented by debris blown about by the wind, one in Għaxaq and the other in Ċirkewwa.

Highest gusts were as follows - Mellieha 104.0km/h (Force 11), Nadur 86.9km/h (Force 9), Rabat 83.7km/h (Force 9), 82.1km/h at Naxxar (Force 9), 80.4km/h at Zebbug Malta (Force 9), 78.8 km/h at Attard (Force 9), 74.0km/h at Mgarr Malta (Force 8), 70.8km/h at Zejtun (Force 8).