August was warmer than average
The highest temperature recorded at Luqa Airport last month was 36°C on the 21st, the Meteorological Office said.
This is lower than the record high of 43.8°C registered on August 9, 1999. But the mean maximum temperature last month was above the climate norm by almost a degree, making it a warmer month.
Three heat advisories were issued by the office to the health authorities on days when the air temperature was expected to reach more than 35°C.
The lowest temperature was 19.6°C recorded on August 8. The mean minimum temperature last month was 22.8°C, one degree higher than the climate norm for the month. The coolest August night was August 27 1972 with a low of 15.9°C.
The average sea surface temperature was 26.1°C, or 0.6°C higher than the average value for August since 1978. The mean relative humidity last month was 65 per cent which is less than the climate norm for August.
August had an average of 11 hours and 30 minutes of sunshine a day, slightly more than the climate norm.
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Bud Moureaux - Flanders (BE) & Xemxija, SPB (MT)
Sep 1st 2010, 20:58
@Paul Borg
For full info see 'Temperature measurement - Answers_com'
http://www.answers.com/topic/temperature-measurement
Surface air temperature -
Meteorological observatories measure the temperature and humidity of the air near the surface of the Earth usually using thermometers placed in a Stevenson screen, a standardized well-ventilated white-pained instrument shelter. The thermometers should be positioned 1.25–2 m above the ground. Details of this setup are defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The true daily mean, obtained from a thermograph, is approximated by the mean of 24 hourly readings (which is not the same as the mean of the daily minimum and maximum readings).[1]
For more online weather readings, see 'Malta International Airport -Weather':
http://www.maltairport.com/weather/stations/stations.html
Have a 'nice' day. Will be in Malta end of next month.
Bud Moureaux,
partially residing in my penthouse in Xemxija and in Flanders (northern Dutch speaking part of Belgium)
Louis Bartoli
Sep 1st 2010, 20:47
@ M Vella The Stevenson screen is to be erected over soil at a certain height
Louis Bartoli
Sep 1st 2010, 18:46
@Paul Borg Thermometers are placed in a Stevenson screen. On a roof you most probably had radiation from the roof surface itself. As regards sea temperature, it is the water temperature at one metre below the sea surface. In the last paragraph it says that it is an average of 26.1C
M Vella
Sep 1st 2010, 19:18
but having the stevenson screen itself right in the middle of a car park with BLACK tarmac leads to false higher-than-normal readings!
Paul Borg
Sep 1st 2010, 16:49
How is this data collected ? On four instances the thermometer I have on the roof marked well over 40c and the last reading I had of the sea with a digital thermometer 2 weeks ago was 27.5 c. Does the met office take an average?
C Cassar
Sep 1st 2010, 22:22
Published temperatures from any meteorological office are always of maximum SHADE temperatures. Thhe temperature on your roof will be quite different.
adrian agius
Sep 1st 2010, 16:42
as if we didn't feel it.
LONG LIVE WINTER !!!!!!!!