There were five thunderstorms and six rainy days in August, an odd phenomenon which produced 53.8 mm of rainfall. This total, however, came nowhere near close to toppling the ‘league leader’: August 1964 with 155.5 mm of rainfall measured, Malta International Airport reported on Friday.

August started on a hot note, with the air temperature peaking at 34.5˚C on the third day and went on to bring a mixture of wet and sunny weather to the islands.

The sun shone for 312.1 hours during the month, with the brightest day clocking up 12.7 hours of summer sunshine. On the other hand, the seventh day in August saw a mere 0.3 hours of sunshine, making it the month’s dullest day.

The cloud cover for August was considerably heavier than the norm. This could in part explain why August’s total sunshine hours did not quite measure up to the climate norm of 335.3 hours of sunshine.

Air temperatures for the month of August averaged at 27.2˚C, matching expectations for this time of year. The mean maximum temperature for the month, on the other hand, was 0.7˚C lower than the norm, which could partly be explained by the cooling effect usually brought about by the rain.

A combination of rain, thunder, and wind hit the islands on August 14. The day accounted for the month's maximum gust, which blew at 34 knots from a north-northeast direction. However, it was definitely not all doom and gloom on the day, as the sun shone for more than seven hours.