Rainfall last month was among the lowest for February since records started being kept, the MIA Met Office said today.
It said that 15.6 mm of rain fell last month at Malta International Airport which was much less than the climate norm for February, which is 61.3 mm.
The wettest day was St Paul's feast day, February 10, with a total of just 5 mm. The highest February rainfall on record occurred in 1965 with a total of 187.9 mm, while the driest one was that of 1957 with just 3.5 mm.
|
Year |
Total February rainfall (mm) |
|
1957 |
3.50 |
|
1990 |
4.70 |
|
1998 |
6.10 |
|
1995 |
8.20 |
|
1947 |
8.30 |
|
1960 |
9.00 |
|
2004 |
14.80 |
|
2010 |
15.60 |
A highest temperature of 24.2 °C was registered at Luqa Airport last month on February 18th. This made it the second ever highest temperature recorded at Luqa Airport on a February day since 1960, which had a record high of 26.7 oC. This warm day was brought by the occurrence of a short-lived thermal ridge over the central Mediterranean, coupled with cloudless skies and southerly winds.
The mean air temperature of 13.8 oC registered last month was also higher than the climate mean of 12.4 oC for the month of February. Both the mean minimum (10.9 oC) and mean maximum (16.7 oC) temperatures were also higher than the norm.
A mean relative humidity of 72% was recorded last February. This value is 7% lower than the average February mean. The most humid February since 1951 was that of 1967 with a value of 86%.
The sea temperature last month was 15.7 °C which is 1 °C warmer than average.