Wetter September

A total 75.2 mm of rain fell at Luqa Airport last month, well over the September norm of 40.4 mm.

The wettest day was September 24 with 34.6 mm of rain.

The wettest September on record in 1997 when 266.9 mm fell and the driest one was that of 1943 when there had been no rain at all.

No hail was recorded, but thunderstorms were noted on the 9th, 15th, 24th, 25th, 27th and 29th. The stormiest September was that of 1955 with 11 days followed by that of 2003 with 10 thunderstorm days.

With a mean air temperature of 24°C, September was marginally cooler by 0.1°C than the climatological norm.

The lowest minimum temperature last month was 18.7°C, recorded on the 25th. This makes it 5.5°C higher than the lowest temperature ever recorded since 1947.

Records at the Meteorological Office show that the coolest September night occurred on the 21st in 1969, with a minimum of 13.2°C.

The lowest grass minimum temperature was also warmer by 8.1°C than the lowest ever recorded since 1947.

The highest maximum temperature of 30.4 °C was recorded on September 19. The hottest September days on record were the 9th and 10th of 1924, when a maximum temperature of 38.9°C was reached.

The mean sea temperature was 0.5°C warmer than the norm of 24.8°C for the past 33 years.

The monthly mean humidity reached 74 per cent, which is three per cent less than the climatological norm.

The wind at Malta International Airport last month had a mean speed of 7.3 knots and the most frequent direction was the WestNorthWest. The strongest gust was 34 knots from a northwest by west direction on the 11th.

Last month there was a mean 8.22 hours of sunshine a day, which is slightly less than the climatological norm.

The sunniest days were the 4th, 12th and 17th with 11.4 hours. The dullest was the 3rd with just 1.1 hrs of bright sunshine.

The total hours of bright sunshine last September was 251.3 - 3.9 hours short of the average since 1995.