Following last month's cooler than average temperatures, June 2010 followed suit and was another cool month with the mean monthly temperature of 23.4°C being 1.0°C cooler than average. This was the second coolest June since temperature records began in 1987. The coolest June ever was in 1992 with a mean monthly temperature of 22.8°C while the warmest ever was in 2003 with a mean monthly temperature of 26.5°C. June 2010 was also dry with the total rainfall of 0.8mm falling in just one day. The average rainfall total in June is 5.4mm.

The cooler temperatures were again mainly during the daytime with the mean monthly maximum of 26.8°C being 1.7°C below average. This was the joint coldest ever recorded for June, a record also held by 1992 and 2005. The mean minimum temperature of 19.9°C was 0.4°C below average. June was marked by a number of cool and windy days especially in the first few days and in the fourth week because of a low pressure system over Italy and the Balkans which brought cooler air into the central Mediterranean region.

There were no heatwaves in June 2010 with the hottest temperature going up to 32.8°C on the 14th. The highest ever temperature recorded in June was on 25th June 2007 with a maximum temperature of 40.1°C! |The lowest temperature in June 2010 was 17.0°C on the 2nd with the lowest ever dipping to 14.8°C on 1st June 1990 and 3rd June 2007.

The westnorthwest was the most frequent wind direction with an average wind speed at Zebbug Malta of 12.7km/h. The strongest gust was of 59.9km/h recorded on the 13th at around 13:05pm at Zebbug from a westerly direction during the passage of a weak frontal system as the wind shifted from SE to WSW.

May 2010 was a rather cool month especially during the day with the mean temperature of 19.8°C being 0.6°C below the average since temperature records began in 1987. It was also a slightly wetter month with 11.1mm of rain - almost 2mm above the average of 9.2mm. There were 6 days of rain - this was double the average for May and 3 of these days were with brief thunderstorms. This was due to a relatively large number of north African depressions passing over Malta on their way towards Italy or Greece.

The mean maximum temperature of 22.7°C was 1.5°C below the average for May while the mean minimum temperature was slightly above average. The warmest May since 1987 was that of 1999 with a mean temperature of 21.6°C and the coolest was in 1991 with 17.8°C.

The warmest day in May was on the 28th, when the temperature at Balzan climbed to 28.8°C. The warmest May day ever recorded was on 23rd May 1994 with a maximum temperature of 37.3°C. On 14th 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 2nd May 1992 with a low of 10.5°C.

The westnorthwest was the most frequent wind direction with an average wind speed at Zebbug Malta of 16km/h. The strongest gust recorded on 14th May reached 72.2km/h at around 11:05pm at Zebbug from a southerly direction as a frontal system from northern Africa passed over the central Mediterranean. A similar but stronger gust of 90.7km/h was recorded at the Mellieha Weather Station on that same evening and also on the 31st during strong WNW gale force winds.

Second driest April on record

April 2010 was the second driest April since rainfall records began in 1985. In fact, only 0.8mm of rainfall were recorded compared to the average of 26.3mm. The driest April on record was in 2006 with 0.6mm. This was mainly due to the lack of low pressure systems or fronts passing over the central Mediterranean and those that did only produced very light rain.

With a mean temperature of 17.3°C, April 2010 was the 6th warmest on record and only 0.2°C below the highest ever. The warmest April months were in 1988, 1998 and 2006 with a mean of 17.5°C. The mean monthly temperature for April is of 16.7°C.

The warmest day in April 2010 was the 26th with a high of 23.3°C and the coolest night was that between the 3rd and the 4th when the thermometer dipped to 12.7 degrees. The hottest ever April day was on 11th April 2008 when the maximum temperature had soared to 31.7°C. The lowest ever minimum temperature in April was of 6.5°C on 2nd April 1997.

The average wind speed in April 2010 at Zebbug Malta was 13.0 km/h and the most frequent direction was northeast. The highest wind gust at Zebbug (Malta) was of 66.6km/h from the southeast on the 23rd, with a much stronger gust of 90.7km/h on that same day at Mellieha.

Slightly warmer but wetter March

The average temperature of 14.9°C recorded in March 2010 was slightly higher than the average for March. This was mainly due to the last ten days of the month which were noticeably warmer than usual.

Total rainfall in March 2010 was of 64.1mm - this was almost double the average of 37.0mm mainly due to the moderate rainfall falling continuously during the night of 7th/8th March. In fact, the 24-hour rainfall total of 8th March was of 43.6mm. The wettest March was that of 1996 with 125 mm.

The highest temperature recorded in March 2010 was 22.8°C on 1st March just before the weather became cooler for over two weeks. The warmest March day since records began in 1987 was that of 25th March 2001 when the temperature soared to 33.5°C. The lowest temperature in March 2010 was of 7.8°C early in the morning of 11th March, while the coldest ever was on 9th March 1993 with 4.8°C.

The average wind speed in March 2010 at Zebbug Malta was 15.0 km/h and the most frequent direction was west. The highest wind gust at Zebbug (Malta) was 68.5km/h on the 30th from the south, while the highest gust at Mellieha was of 92.5km/h from the northeast on the 7th.

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).