Monday, 5th May 2008 - 13:46CET

April was one of the driest ever

Last month was one of the driest Aprils on record with just 3.6 mm of rainfall, the MIA Met Office said today. Records have been kept for 84 years.

It said rainfall last month was 7.3 mm below average. The wettest April since 1922 was that of 1994 when 118.4 mm of rain drenched the Maltese Islands.

With a mean temperature of 17.4°C, last month was 0.3 of a degree cooler than the average of the last 30 years. April of 1998, with a mean temperature of 17.7°C, was the warmest April on record. The coolest was that of 1980 with a mean of 13.9°C.

The warmest day last month was the 11^th with a high of 28.8°C. The warmest April day on record was the 9^th of the month in 1985 when the temperature rose to 30.7°C.

However, the coolest it got last month was early before dawn on the 1^st of the month when the thermometer dropped to 10.3°C. The coolest April night since records began in 1922 was that of the 9^th/10^th of 1956 when a temperature of 4.4°C was registered.

With a mean wind speed of 8.7 knots, April has not lived up to its reputation of being the windiest month of the year this time. For 70% of the time the wind at Malta International Airport last month, was in the light speed bracket. The most frequent direction was the Northwest by West with the strongest gust reaching 32 knots from the West by South on the 3^rd of the month. The strongest gust ever recorded in April by the Meteorological Office was 56 knots from a North-westerly direction on the 15^th of April 1969.

With an average of almost 9 hours of bright sunshine a day, last month was one of the cloudiest Aprils on record. The brightest day was the 22^nd with 12 hours and 12 minutes of bright sunshine, whilst no sunshine was recorded on the 8^th.

Comments

Andrew Gatt (1 week, 2 days ago)

Tell you something else, folks.............for most species to successfully breed in Malta, undisturbed habitat is a must. Besides the REALLY inaccessible coastal cliffs etc, I doubt that there is a single area without human presence of some sort. Peregrines and Barn Owls - likely (and I live in hope that this will happen) but forget all the blah and hype that stopping Spring Hunting = Orgy of Reproduction in Malta!

And anyway, now that the Maltese have "reclaimed their countryside" according to Birdlife, what with all the BBQ's, ramblers, picnickers, offroaders, bikers and whoevers, them tweetie birds ain't got a hope in hell for any peace and quiet!! ;) ;) ;)

Nyal Xuereb (1 week, 2 days ago)

Alex, I understand how you voted and accept you reasoning, but you know what the problem is... The minority which broke the law before 2004, still do now, and will still do forever. Come over to my place in Gharghur and hear the shots ever day. You know who is losing out in all of this? Those genuine hunters who go by the book and those genuine hunters who are true sportsmen and shoot only game birds, not even anything that is allowed, and believe me there are plenty. There are hunters in Malta who just go for the Woodcocks; other for Quails only; and the majority for Turtle Doves. I know hunters who simply don’t care less of what happens all year round, but only go out for a couple of weeks. Now this has been taken away from them. Those hunters which were really needed were the first to be removed. Now we will surely witness a drop in hunting even in the Autumn/Winter season because the majority of them only hunt during the 3 weeks in April. I condemn all forms of illegal hunting, but laws will always be broken. You don’t expect the government to ban cars simply because of those irresponsible drivers who will never learn. As to you contribution towards birds, keep it up. To close off I would like to ask the authorities yet again to build more nature reserves because with them only we can truly witness more breeding.

Alex Ellul (1 week, 3 days ago)

Nyal, mu apologies for labelling you as a bird killer. Are you a hunter or not? Your query asking me what am I doing for the birds.. Well, I do not know wheter I get should get angry or fall down laughing.. I do not possess riches as you do,. All I have is a small backgarden which, together with the other back gardens in my neighbourhood block, make rather a large green area where we have, of course, the ubiquitous sparrow and the seasonal birds such as the robin, the red tail, wrens, even some kind of owl on one occasion and many others. In this green area the birds are safe from the shooter and the trapper. I keep a bird feeder which attracts the birds and in return these birds control the pests on the trees. What am I doing for the birds? I have voted for the birds on various occasions (you know what I mean) hoping that the errant hunters will learn to keep themselves on this side of the law, even though I lose hope all the time. I lobby continuously against illegal bird hunting.. and should there ever be a referendum on hunting...Spring or Autumn..well.. what am i doing for the birds? Now you tell me: Are you on the pro-hunting side, anti-hunting or just neutral?

Nyal Xuereb (1 week, 3 days ago)

Alex, first of all, how did you conclude that I am a "bird killer"? Secondly, I do my best to offer whatever I can to the birds. I've got a total of 8 tumoli spread over two areas in which I had planted endemic trees such as Aleppo Pines, Olives, Fan Palms, Bay Laurels amongst others. I provide as much running water and bird food as I can, and maintain my land, not anyone else’s by the way, top notch. I invested in agricultural machinery and other related tools and spend by spare time keeping the land better than Mother Nature intended. And what did I get so far this year?... 4 Sardinian Warbler nests which provided 9 fledglings and 1 Fan Tailed Warbler nest which has not yet produced young. If I could I would send you the photos. In other years I even had 2 nests of our beloved national bird, the Blue Rock Thrush, and this was when hunting was open. I’ve tried year after year to try and keep the Robins as much as possible, but I’ve never arrived as far as the end of March. Why? Our climate my friend. Turtle Doves escape Egypt and Tunisia because of the heat. They have plenty of water there through rivers and man-made canals, but they still go to central Europe because of the mild weather. This year I’ve practically seen no difference in the amount of birds whatsoever, except for Monday 15 April, when I counted over 200 turtle doves, but not 1 stopped for a rest; they all kept going. For some species I’ve actually less, like Golden Oriels and Falcons, although other birds of prey may be still on the way between this week and the next. So Alex, before you start blabbing away, kindly let me know what YOU are doing for the birds?

Joseph Caruana (1 week, 3 days ago)

I totally agree with Mr. Xuereb

Alex Ellul (1 week, 3 days ago)

So, Nyal, you mercy-kill the birds so that they wouldn't suffer thirst. Try another one. Hunters are trying to find all type of excuses, including this weather report, to try to justify their activity during Spring. I assure you that if birds are left alone, these will definitely breed in Malta and Gozo, just like a lot of bird species bred and lived in the remote past. Its the modern hunter with his modern automatic that has destroyed the flocks and not only in Malta. How do turtle doves live in north Africa where its drier than Malta?

Nyal Xuereb (1 week, 3 days ago)

There you have it. How can we expect the turtle doves to breed with this weather? One or two pairs where water is provided, such as nature reserves, yes, but everywhere else is already stone dry.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Friday, May 16, 2008. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

April was one of the driest ever

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