Despite its association with cold weather, February didn't meet these expectations, maintaining the relatively warm temperatures also seen in the preceding months, a statement by Malta International Airport read.
"This pattern contributed to the meteorological winter, which has just concluded, being noted as one of the warmest on record by the Meteorological Office. With an average temperature of 14.8°C, this winter shares the record with that of 2007."
A closer look at the temperatures measured during the past month reveals how February was 1.7°C above the climatic norm of 12.6°C. "The sixth day of February brought with it a glimpse of summer, as the maximum temperature continued to rise to reach 20.5°C; almost 8°C warmer than the average temperature for this time of the year. Despite these warm conditions, February 1960 remains the record holder for the highest temperature recorded in February, with the air temperature rising to 26.7°C."
In contrast, the lowest temperature observed last month dipped to 7.4°C on February 16th, it said. "While rather chilly, it does not compare to the crisp 1.7°C recorded in February 1956."
"The second month of the year, which is typically associated with rainfall, saw only 38.6 mm of precipitation; a notable 30.3 mm below the climatic norm. Interestingly, more than half of this rainfall occurred within a single day, on February 24th. Additionally, the Maltese islands were hit by two lightning storms last month, that is one storm less than the norm."
February also boasted sunnier-than-average days with over 200.1 sunny hours recorded, surpassing the climatic norm by 13.4 hours, it said. "The brightest day, February 18th, basked in an impressive 10.2 hours of sunshine. This contrasts to Carnival weekend, as no sunshine was recorded on February 10th, becoming the month's gloomiest day, while occurrences of heavy hail showers were also observed in several areas."
"Despite the sunnier days, the average wind speed remained relatively consistent at 9.6 knots, just slightly above the climatic norm of 9.4 knots. The strongest gust of wind was recorded on 25th February, blowing from a West by North direction and reaching 45 knots."