The Malta International Airport’s Meteorological Office has reported a rare high temperature episode for June – the likes of which have not been witnessed in Malta since 1982.
The episode was a five-day period, between 20 and 24 June, when the Islands saw temperatures averaging 37 degrees Celsius, while another four-day stretch of even higher temperatures followed.
Records for the past 84 years show that the only comparably hot period was in June 1982, when there was a seven-day heat wave that saw temperatures ranging between 35 and 40 degrees – or 10 degrees above average.
This type of heat wave, the MIA Met. Office explained, is very rare for June. Since 1922, in fact, there have been only four other years when temperatures of 35 degrees or higher persisted for three days or more.
The Met. Office has urged sunbathers to take heed of its UV index forecasts, which are showing very dangerous levels of 11 or more, and has advised people to seek shade and apply adequate sunscreen protection when venturing out into the sun – especially between 11am and 4pm.
The month of June saw a mean temperature of 24.2 degrees, making it just half a degree warmer than the average. The first half of the month, however, contrasted sharply with the second. While the first two weeks of the month saw an average temperature of 19.7 degrees, a sharp rise of almost nine degrees followed, that saw the mercury rising to an average of 28.6 degrees over the last 15 days.
The same can be said for the maximum temperatures experienced during the day. The first 15 days of June had an average high of 23.8 degrees, while the second 15-day period saw an 11 degree jump in average temperature to a stifling 34.7 degrees.
The highest temperature recorded over June, on the last day of the month, was 38.5 degrees, while the highest ever June temperature on record was 40.1 degrees – on 13 June 1997.
The nights of June, with an average temperature of 19 degrees, were very close to what one would expect. The warmest night was between 22 and 23 June, with an average temperature of 25.6 degrees, while the coolest night was recorded between 5 and 6 June when the thermometer dropped to 14 degrees. The coolest June night on record, when the temperature fell to 12.6 degrees, was between 6 and 7 June 1975.
June’s rainfall of 1.4mm, meanwhile, was nearly double the average of 0.8mm. But, the Met. Office points out, practically all of June's rain fell on the morning of 3 June. The wettest June on record was that of 1962, when 28.2mm of rainfall was recorded. More recently, on 20 June 2003, 16.2mm of rain fell within a couple of hours.
The Met. Office reported that wind during June was somewhat slack, with an average speed of six knots – 6.9 miles or 11 kilometres per hour – while 96 per cent of the time, wind speeds were within the “light to moderate” bracket. The most frequent wind direction was northwesterly and the strongest gust was of 30 knots – 34.5mph or 55.6kph – from the northwest on the first of the month.
Malta also had an average of 11.5 hours of bright sunshine per day – a total of 18 hours more sunshine during the month than the average for June. The brightest day was 13 June, with 13 hours and 24 minutes of sunshine, while the dullest day, in terms of sunshine, was 11 June, with just 36 minutes of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day.