It’s official – February was dismal

Malta endured one of the wettest and gloomiest winter months in February, characterised by more days of thunder, hail, heavy winds and rainfall than what is normally expected on the Mediterranean Islands during this period.

In total, 19 of the 28 days in February experienced rainfall, amounting to a total of 112.8mm of rain. This amounted to nearly twice the norm of 56.9mm. The wettest day was the 16th, when a total of 28.2mm of rain was collected. Meanwhile, the 18th day experienced the highest hourly rate in rainfall, recording 16.7mm of water every hour.

Last month, Malta saw only 52.9 hours of bright sunshine in total. This figure is considerably lower than the average of 182.2 hours. On average, each day saw 5.46 hours of light, which is less than the monthly norm of 6.5 hours. The brightest days (10th and 19th) saw 10 hours of sunshine each. Meanwhile, no sunshine was seen on the dullest days (13th, 14th and 21st).

Thunder was heard on seven days (1st, 5th, 6th, 8th, 17th, 18th and 25th) which is higher than the three-day norm for February. Hail fell on three days (1st, 5th and 9th). No fog was observed, while the humidity level was 74%, below the norm of 78%.

The most frequent wind direction for this month was from the West-Northwest direction, with light winds present for 55% of the time. There were no calm winds in February. The average wind speed was 10.7 knots, which is higher than the climate norm of 9.5 knots.

Wind gusts higher than 34 knots were recorded on 12 days, with the highest reaching 44 knots from the North-Westerly direction on February 9th. There were at least 24 days in February when the wind blew at a speed of 10 knots for one hour. Meanwhile, there were 7 days when the wind exceeded 20 knots.

The average sea temperature reached 15.4°C, which is 0.4°C higher than the norm of 15.0°C. The highest sea temperature recorded was 16.2°C while the lowest was 14.7°C.

This February, the mean temperature was 12°C, which is 0.5°C lower than the climate norm of 12.5°C. The highest temperature recorded was 18.7°C, reached on the 5th, while the lowest dropped to 5.6°C, on the 20th. The mean maximum temperature was 14.7°C, while the mean minimum temperature was 9.3°C.

In total, seven days recorded a maximum temperature which is higher than the norm for February.