November was slightly warmer, drier - Met Office

Last month was slightly warmer and drier than the norm, the Met Office at Malta International Airport said in its monthly report.

It said there were nine days with thunderstorms, slightly more than the usual for November since 1951.

Rainfall amounted to 86.4 mm which was less than the average 30-year November mean by 18.3 mm. Since the last 85 years, the highest rainfall recorded during the month of November was that measured on 10^th November 1998 when a total of 162 mm of rain fell over the Maltese islands.

A mean temperature of 17.9^oC was recorded, which was slightly warmer than the average 30-year November mean.

The same applied for the recorded mean monthly day maximum (20.6^oC) and mean monthly night minimum (15.2^oC) temperatures. The lowest grass temperature for last month was 8.1^oC compared to the lowest value of -0.6^oC recorded on 29^th November 1955.

The average wind at Malta International Airport last month was 7.4 knots, which is a typical average value since 1978. The most frequent direction was from the Southwest. The strongest gust was 45 knots from West NorthWest that was recorded on the 22^nd of the month. The strongest gust ever recorded in November at Malta International Airport was 60 knots (or 69 mph) from the North Northwest on the 5^th of November 1988.