October with storm and darkness brightens the Maltese islands
After a full year of drier-than-average months, October was wet, windy and unusually stormy, the Met Office’s monthly report said.
The expected amount of rain fell on the Maltese islands three times, with 246.2 mm recorded.
It was the wettest October since records began, after October 1951 (476.5mm) and October 1957 (254.2mm).
On the highest day of the month – October 25 – 51.6mm of rainfall was measured.
More than half of the total rainfall of the month fell during the last week of October as a low pressure area developed in the south-east of the Maltese islands and caused bad weather.
Eight thunderstorms – five of which were reported in the first 14 days – made October a month of storm above average. It was still only half the number reported in October 2018, however, when 16 thunderstorms gripped the Maltese islands.
Wind and darkness
After maintaining an average wind speed higher than the average of 9.2 knots, last month was also blustery. A maximum of 38 knots was recorded on October 7, blowing from the northwest in a westerly direction.
With an average of 20.7 ° C, the air temperature for October was lower than the climate norm of 21.5 ° C. While the highest monthly temperature of 27.5 ° C was recorded on 5 October, the lowest temperature dropped to 14.7 ° C on 17 October, as a result of the movement of cold air towards the center of the Mediterranean from the Balkan Peninsula.
The average sea surface temperature, however, was 1.5 ° C higher than the climate norm.
October 17 interrupted generally dark weather with 10.5 hours of bright sunshine.
During the month, the sun shines for 39.5 hours less than the expected 218 hours of sunshine, partly due to more cloudy skies throughout. The average cloud cover for the month was 4.1 oktas higher than the norm of 3.6 oktas.
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