Ravages of a storm

Predictions of violent storms fizzled out but yesterday’s downpour still had its effects, uprooting a sentry box, delaying public transport, landing vehicles in hot water and ravaging crops.

Some weather websites were off the mark, reporting strong tempests in Tunisia and the Sicilian Channel, stating that Malta was on “maximum alert”, with “extremely violent storms” forming around it and causing torrential rains.

According to a Malta Airport Met Office spokesman, “large super­cells” formed to the west of the island in the Tunisian-Sicily Channel.

But Malta was spared the worst as it was on the eastern edge of the storm that slowly moved towards the northeast during the afternoon.

The day the rains came down...

Severe thunderstorms are characteristic of supercell storms and are not uncommon in the Mediterranean, especially during autumn when the sea is warm, while upper cold systems move into the Mediterranean from the north.

Such storms bring copious rainfall, with possible flooding over the areas affected,” the spokesman said. Despite the mayhem in areas of the islands, the average rainfall was close to that for November at 32.9mm. The highest amount of rainfall in this month was in 1999 with 162mm in 24 hours.

The north-western areas of the Maltese Islands suffered the heavier rainfall and severe thunderstorms, with Dingli recording 90.4mm, followed by Xewkija and Xagħra in Gozo with 56.2mm and 51.6mm respectively.

The southern areas of Malta were the least affected, with Valletta recording 5.4mm and Bengħajsa 8.0mm.

Hail was observed at Luqa, though reported to be more severe in Gozo, where it struck Xagħra, wreaking havoc on crops in the fertile Ramla Valley and leaving a farmer in tears as he watched the fruit of his labour in tatters, according to a witness.

The Civil Protection Department was kept busy and was quick to issue a warning to the public to avoid passing from localities where lots of water collected in the eventuality that the heavy rain persisted, as was expected, into the evening and throughout the night.

The public was advised to drive cautiously due to the lack of visibility and to avoid parking cars in areas where they could be carried away by the water.

CPD personnel were in the Msida area, monitoring the situation, the public transport company, Arriva, said.

Due to the heavy rainfall, its service experienced delays on the majority of routes, severely affecting a number of them, with “major problems” registered in the Msida and Birkirkara areas.

The buses passing through Msida experienced “major” delays due to rainfall that collected in the area, causing heavy congestion, while delays were also experienced in Rabat due to heavy waters in the Nigret area, the company said.

Buses did not pass through Valley Road, Birkirkara, yesterday, because of heavy water displacement, and were instead diverted through Ħamrun until the situation cleared.

Among the incidents, a car with a woman and two children ended up at sea in Marsalforn Bay. At about 1 p.m., the vehicle was reported drifting along the road towards the sea due to water currents and the Rabat police station in Gozo then reported it “fell” into the bay.

An AFM rescue helicopter and patrol vessel were dispatched to the scene and a rescuer was deployed, but CPD personnel had already evacuated the three passengers from the partly submerged vehicle.

Meanwhile, in Ramla Valley, crops were destroyed by the hailstorm, which covered areas in a sheet of whiteness, carrying the sand out into the sea and practically slicing the beach in two.

The forecast for today is more showers, thundery at first. But during the day, the thunderstorms are predicted to give way to more isolated and lighter showers, the MetOffice said.

Its spokesman said the upper cold air and the surface low pressure were expected to move towards central Libya but unstable air from the Balkans would follow, bringing more showers locally.