Malta’s freaky winter season

This winter has seen all sort of temperatures, from some very chilly days to some very warm, almost hot, days.

Interestingly, at the beginning of January (5 and 6 January), MIA recorded temperatures of up to 19.5 degrees. In the sun, this feels more like 22°C. The climatic norm for the maximum temperature for these usually varies between 15.4°C and 16.4°C.

But just 24 hours later (7 January) Malta experienced a low of 10.5°C, which is in line with the climatic norm for the minimum temperature varying between 9.5°C and 10.4°C. Thus a 9°C degree drop was recorded in the space of a day.

MIA told this newsroom that at this time of year, the coldest days on our islands are usually recorded when a Polar continental air mass is affecting Russia and Eastern Europe, causing heavy snow to fall over these regions.

If the currents from these regions reach the central Mediterranean, normally via a Northeasterly and Northerly wind, temperatures drop significantly over our island.

This has not been the case so far, this year. Instead, warm air masses have affected us, such as those coming from Libya and reaching us in the past 2 days, maintaining the minimum temperatures relatively high.

The strong winds which were recently recorded also contributed to these temperatures, as they transferred the warm air from the Mediterranean Sea over the Maltese islands.

MIA’s records of rainfall, reveals this year was above the average (243.7when compared to the last five years (average 232.5).

Most of the rainfall over the Maltese Islands comes either from thunderstorms or from the warm sector of a front, which forms the cloud called nimbostratus and produces a lot of rain. These conditions were relatively rare this winter.

Thus over the months of October, November and December, this year was the all time lowest in the last five years, with a total of 41.6.