September marked the start of the new precipitation year. However, with just 29.6 mm of rain measured, the month was much drier than the norm (59.2 mm).

September’s wettest day came six days into the month amid a week of unstable weather and produced 11.2 mm of rainfall. On the same day, the Meteorological Office also recorded the month’s strongest wind gust, which blew from the north-northeast at 34 knots. Having maintained an average wind speed of 8 knots, September was windier than expected at this time of year.

Following the instability of September’s first days, fairer weather returned to the delight of those who had not had enough of summer sunshine and high temperatures. The temperature peaked on the nineteenth day at 34°C, exceeding the norm for the maximum temperature by 5.4°C. However, at 25.0°C, September’s mean air temperature was only slightly higher than the norm of 24.9°C.

On the other hand, the sea surface temperature averaged 26.9°C and was 5.7°C higher than the norm.

While September days saw an average of 8.6 hours of daily sunshine, the brightest day clocked as many as 11.7 hours of sunshine and the bleakest, which fell at the beginning of the month, was completely sunless. By the end of September, the Meteorological Office measured 258 hours of sunshine, making the month slightly sunnier than the norm. 

EXPECTED WEATHER

A high-pressure area located over the central Mediterranean is expected to bring about more sunshine and higher-than-average temperatures in the coming days.

Stable weather together with southerly winds, which are expected to blow from Monday, are set to create the perfect conditions for the temperature to rise from a maximum of 27°C on Saturday to 30°C by mid-week.

However, a change in weather, brought about by the cooler northwesterly winds, can be expected at the end of the coming week.