Update 2: Cars damaged by debris in Mellieha, St Julians - max wind gust of 62 knots
More strong winds expected tonight
A large tree was uprooted near the law courts. Photo: Paul Spiteri Lucas
(Adds details)
Cars were damaged by falling stones in Mellieha and St Julians and a sailing yacht went adrift between Manoel Island and Ta' Xbiex last night as gale force winds battered the Maltese islands.
A police spokesman said reports of damage were received from all over Malta as well as Gozo.
The cars in Mellieha and St Julian's were damaged when walls collapsed.
The Armed Forces of Malta said the skipper of the sailing yacht 'Fusion' alerted the AFM's Operations Centre that his vessel was adrift between Manuel Island and Ta' Xbiex.
The Maritime Squadron's search-and-rescue launch 'Melita-1' was deployed and managed to secure the yacht alongside the Gozo-ferry berth in Sa Maison, Pieta`.
The Civil Protection Department was also busy on the roads, clearing debris strewn over the streets by the strong wind and the rain. Four sizeable tree trunks were reported to the AFM after they were found blocking Council of Europe Road in Luqa. The AFM deployed a bulldozer which cleared the road.
The AFM also cleared debris from a collapsed wall in Mdina Road, Zebbug.
Trees were uprooted in many localities, including a large 40-year-old tree near the law courts in Valletta.
Damage was also reported to the Xarolla windmill in Zurrieq. At Zabbar a bus shelter was pulled from its mountings by the wind. Hoardings in a number of localities were also damaged.
Meanwhile informed sources also reported that a garage roof collapsed in Fgura at about 10 p.m. The garage was empty and no one was injured.
The MIA Met Office said it recorded a maximum gust of a gust of 62 knots from the South to the East in Selmun yesterday evening. The strongest gust at Luqa was 46 knots at 9.30 p.m.
It said the passage of a warm front yesterday afternoon brought with it some scattered rain and a rather humid and warm air mass. This was followed by the passage of a cold front yesterday evening bringing with it a strong veering of winds.
A maximum gust of 46 knots from the South by West was registered yesterday at Luqa Airport at 9.30. Other localities also experienced strong wind gusts, especially the exposed area of Selmun with a maximum gust of 62 knots from the South by East.
The maximum gust ever recorded from Luqa Airport was 72 knots on October 11th 1982.
Today the winds are expected to be rather strong to strong from the Southwest which will slightly diminish later on. The Meteorological Office has already issued a strong wind warning valid till 4.00pm.
However, the winds are expected to increase overnight to very strong with the possibility of reaching gale force again.
The maximum temperature for Friday and Saturday is expected to be 12C which will slightly increase between Saturday and Sunday.
More information is available from maltairport.com/weather
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M Vella
Mar 7th 2009, 15:29
from official sources
J.Farrugia
Mar 7th 2009, 12:47
M.Vella
From where are you getting these temperatures - state your sources ? 4th March was a rainy day I believe. What are you taking into consideration the national average or some local weather station installed on a roof.
M Vella
Mar 7th 2009, 08:24
temperatures went up to 18 and HIGHER on 3 different days on 2nd March, 3rd March and 4th March 2009. Before you speak check your facts properly!
J.Farrugia
Mar 6th 2009, 13:57
M.Vella
When did the temperature go up to 18 ? And are you writing about the national average because I think that is what most people are interested in.
C.Caruana
Mar 6th 2009, 09:01
@Michael Spiteri
Althaugh the gusts' strength were somewhat in line with the records, each gust seemed to have lasted longer in duration. The wind veer which was the most damaging.
Furthermore, many records have been broken during the last 7 years such as hottest summer ever in 2003, one of the biggest storms ever on the 15th Sept 03, warmest sea temperature ever by the end of that same Summer, Jan 06 had the most hail days on record, hottest day ever in May 2006 and one of the warmest May 2006 overall, warmest and 4th driest Winter 07 on record, wettest June 07 ever, coldest max day ever in last 20yrs in Feb 08 [accord. to maltaweather], freak hail storm in Valletta last Dec.
Do we need more proof that the climate is really changing??!! These add up to 10 records broken in a span of 7 years!!!!!!!!!
Michael Spiteri
Mar 6th 2009, 06:55
@C.Caruana
This kind of weather in normal in the centre of the Med at around October - November and February - March. When strong wind hit us twenty years ago it was'nt the global warming but the hole in the Earth's ozone layer. I wonder what global scare is in store for the future.
M Vella
Mar 5th 2009, 22:04
in fact warmer temperatures for this week were perfectly forecasted as maximum temperatures did in fact go up to 18 degrees and even a bit higher too in some localities :-)
C.Caruana
Mar 5th 2009, 19:05
May this convince the people that the climate is really changing! Although natural cycles are still taking place (no one can deny this), man's fingerprints can be widely seen on the weather. I say goodbye normal Winters, goodbye Maltese Summers, goodbye seasons. Disrupted weather systems shall become the norm.
Cursed is the generation that chose not to act!
May God be with the civil armed forces!! Disastrous weather conditions are already destined for the future even in Malta irrelevant on whether one beliefs or not about man-made climate change.
J.Farrugia
Mar 5th 2009, 18:49
@K.Galea
Not sure they got it as right as you claim, but you seem to be giving publicity to a particular site.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090226/local/warmer-temperatures-on-the-way/
Kenneth Galea
Mar 5th 2009, 14:20
Actually Malta Met office was right in the first place. Temperatures were predicted to go higher over the weekend (last one) which they did and the first couple of days of this week were reasonably mild too. This wind was predicted early part of the week to hit Wednesday night and also tomorrow. The www.maltaweather.com is normally accurate. As to this winter well give us winter any time of the year and keep our boiling summer well away from our shores!
P Micallef
Mar 5th 2009, 14:03
Dear Malcolm. Thank God that the wind turbines have not been installed. With that kind of wind they would have to be shut down. Some of them could have finished destroyed like the Xarolla wind mill.
W Hooton
Mar 5th 2009, 14:03
I fail to asses the tone of Malcom Attard's comment as being sarcastic or simply moronic. Is he suggesting that a few Kilowatts of energy are a worthy exchange for significant damage to property with potential for loss of life?
Joe Galea F
Mar 5th 2009, 13:38
Thanks to civil protection and police.
Noel Borg
Mar 5th 2009, 13:21
Strong winds aren't over ... More (and even possibly stronger) are coming. For more info and a 16 day weather and sea forecast please visit SD Weather on http://www.sdweather.co.nr.
Piero Timpano
Mar 5th 2009, 13:11
@josi buttigieg NO. if we had a wind farm, they would have shut them off due to these gusts. A wind of over 40 knots is too dangerous even for these superstructures, even in gusts
M.Gauci
Mar 5th 2009, 13:08
Thank God the Meteo guys last week predicted warm nice weather for this week. Minghalija they said it will go up to 18 deg C.
Prosit dudes - can you send me 5 super-5 numbers ? :)
Malcolm Attard
Mar 5th 2009, 12:52
This was a missed opportunity to harvest the wind to generate electricity, if only the wind farm had already been installed!!
josi buttigieg
Mar 5th 2009, 11:42
MAY GOD PROTECT THESE PEOPLE CIVIL PROTECTION AND AFM .THEY ALL DO SO DANGEROUS WORK TO KEEP US SAFE .THANKYOU
C. Camilleri
Mar 5th 2009, 10:21
Thank you AFM and Civil protection. . You're the real life, modern day heroes!!!
Clive Gerada
Mar 5th 2009, 09:35
Well done to the civil services.