2022 was ‘sunnier and drier’, says the Malta Met Office
The year that just ended was the second driest in ten years, the Malta Met Office said on Friday.
In a round-up on the weather for 2022, the Met office said that Malta had a much higher amount of sunshine than the average amounting to 3,124 hours.
While the islands were drenched in sunshine, the rain was a different matter, as the 368 mm of precipitation measured put 2022 on record as the second driest year of the last decade.
“Hopes that the onset of the meteorological winter would bring the amount of rainfall measured in the first 11 months closer to the annual norm of 543 mm, have been dashed by a very dry December,” the Met said Office.
With only 6.4 mm of precipitation measured, of which 1.0 mm fell as dew, the month became the driest December since 1922, as well as the eighth consecutive December drier than average.
Many December mornings, particularly in the latter half of the month, were characterized by fog, mist, and heavy dew. These phenomena resulted from a combination of factors, including clear skies, light and variable winds, and evaporation from surfaces that were still water-charged with above-average November rainfall, which accounted for 41% of -total precipitation of the year. As well as being the rainiest month of the year, November was also the stormiest with six thunderstorms out of a total of 17 that hit the islands in 2022.
Apart from November, May, July and September were also wetter than their respective climatic norms, with all the remaining months producing less rain than the monthly quotas. February, which gave 4.0 mm of precipitation more than the 69.0 mm expected, was one of the driest Februarys on Met Office records.
A look at the temperatures recorded throughout the year shows that the first four months of 2022 were all colder than expected, with January, February, and March each having a snowy day.
The temperature peaked at 39.2°C in August
January 2022 was the coldest January in Malta since 2019, amounting to the lowest temperature of the year of 4.2°C, while the average March air temperature of 12.4°C made the coldest start to the meteorological spring since 1987.
This trend persisted in the second month of spring, but it arose in May, which maintained an average air temperature that was 0.5°C higher than the norm and had a maximum temperature of 31.2°C, which gave the islands early taste of summer.
The air temperature continued to rise in June, reaching a peak of 38.0°C as the only heat wave of the year hit the Maltese Islands. However, the highest temperature of the year was reached in August, when the mercury reached the mark of 39.2°C.
While 2022 started cold, it ended with an unseasonably warm and sunny December, which was the product of a persistent anticyclonic high pressure system. The average air temperature of December was 1.7°C higher than the norm of 14.5°C, and the hours of sunshine recorded during the month amounted to 197.3 more than the expected 165.7 hours.