October temperatures 'below average' - private Met station

Meteo Malta, a private meteorological station said today that October 2011 was the 5th consecutive October with temperatures below average.The last October with temperatures above average was in 2006.

The mean monthly maximum temperature of 23.1°C  was also the lowest for October since it started keeping temperature records in 1987.

October 2011 was slightly drier than average at Balzan with 66.4mm compared to the average of 76.8mm. However, other locations in Malta and Gozo were notably wetter, particularly Nadur and Xaghra with 116.4mm and 125.8mm respectively.

Temperatures were cooler than average particularly during the day with the mean monthly temperature of 20.6°C being 1.3°C below average. The temperature reached a high of only 26.0°C on the 1st and 3rd of the month

The most frequent wind direction was from the northeast with an average wind speed at Zebbug Malta of 11.3km/h. The strongest gust of 62.9km/h occurred during the passage of a low pressure system over the central Mediterranean on the 9th of the month.

There was one notable weather event in October: a severe thunderstorm with large hail and a waterspout in Gozo at around 1.30pm on the 3rd of the month, producing heavy rain and large hail (1.9mm diameter confirmed at Victoria). Nadur had 31mm of rain from this storm and a waterspout was seen off Qbajjar just before the storm hit Gozo. Rescuers were called to remove a tree which fell across a road in Victoria and there was flooding in some streets but no one was injured.

MeteoMalta said the current wind is expected to decrease on Wednesday but   more rain showers or thunderstorms are expected over the next few days. No rain is expected over the weekend. Long-term forecasts reveal colder-than-average temperatures over the next three months or so and with average or below average rainfall amounts, it said.