MaltaMedia.com

October 2009 was a cool month with mean temperatures being 1.0°C below average. In fact, the mean monthly maximum temperature was the third coldest ever since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987.

October’s mean monthly maximum was of 23.6°C - this is 1.7°C below average. The only two other Octobers with colder monthly maximum temperatures were in 1989 and 1996. The mean monthly minimum of 18.3°C was just 0.3°C below average.

The highest temperature reached in October 2009 was 28.6°C on the 22nd October. The highest October temperature ever recorded since temperature records began in 1987 at Balzan was 33.5°C on 2nd October 1991 and 27th October 1999. The lowest temperature in October 2009 was 13.1°C on the 20th October. The previous coldest October night was on 29th October 1996 when the temperature hit a low of 11.3°C.

As regards to rainfall, October 2009 was an average month with 70.3mm - this was only 0.4mm short of the average of 70.7mm. The wettest October since rain records began in 1985 was October 1994 when 233.0mm of rain were measured.

The average wind speed in October was of 13km/h at Zebbug Malta with the highest gust reaching 74.0km/h from the WNW on the 23rd of the month during a gale. On the same day, maltaweather.com’s Mellieha Weather Station recorded a maximum gust of 90.7km/h. The most frequent wind direction during September was the NNW.

There were three notable weather events in October. The first was a low pressure system with heavy rain and thunderstorms moving in an easterly direction over Sicily during the night of 1st/2nd October that killed at least 22 people in the Messina region but also affected Malta, although to a much lesser extent as no one was injured and no damage was caused. The highest 24-hours rainfall totals on that day were: Bahrija 76.8mm, Mellieha 71.8mm, Bahar ic-Caghaq 68.6mm, Qawra 63.1mm, Mosta 61.4mm, Kalkara 59.0mm and Valletta 50.8mm. Most of this rainfall fell in just 45 minutes early in the morning at around 0500 CEST.

The second notable weather event was a low pressure system with heavy rain showers, especially in the northeastern parts of Malta that produced a large waterspout which lasted about 20-30 minutes at around 1330 CEST on the 14th October. There was also some wind speed shear although this was not too pronounced. However, the waterspout could have been produced in a convergence zone of surface winds. The only damage that was caused was to a yacht Fekruna that was taking part in a 15-nautical-mile warm-up race prior to the Middle Sea Race. The waterspout snapped the mast in two. Luckily no one was injured.The highest 24-hour rainfall totals from noon of the 14th till noon of the 15th were: Kalkara 24.6mm and Zabbar 26.4mm. Photos taken by Mario Abela and Pauline Carbonaro.

The third notable weather event was another large waterspout that was observed in the Malta-Gozo Channel for about 10 minutes at around 1130 CET on the last day of the month.

More detailed weather news at www.maltaweather.com.