February had a third of the rainfall for the whole year

by Gozo News · September 8, 2023

February measured a third of the rainfall for the whole year The Malta Met Office have produced a summary of the precipitation year, which found that November 2022 and February 2023 were the two wettest months, with February measuring a third of the rainfall for the year.

With 181.6 mm of rain produced, February was by far the wettest month of the precipitation year and one the wettest Februaries ever, the Met Office said.

Most of the month’s rainfall was measured between 8 and 11 February as Storm Helios battered the islands with inclement weather and strong winds that notched speeds of up to 49 knots.

February produced 70% of the 258.0mm of rainfall measured during the meteorological winter, making up for a much drier-than-average December (6.4mm) and slightly below-average January (70.0mm).

The Met Office noted that seven months produced rainfall amounts that fell below their respective norms and the year was slightly wetter than the norm, with 544.8mm of rainfall measured.

The meteorological autumn was the second wettest season of the year, with 229.6mm of rainfall measured.

The main contributor to this total was November 2022, which generously topped up the rainfall amount of 78.4mm, measured between September and October, with 151.2mm of rain.

November was punctuated by several rainy days, with the rainfall measured during the month being almost double the expected amount according to the climate norm.

In stark contrast to February, March produced only 3.0mm of rainfall, missing the monthly quota by a whole 36.7mm.

The first month of the meteorological spring was followed by two wetter-than-average months as low-pressure systems that persisted until May gave rise to several instances of unstable weather. However, this was not enough to offset March’s dryness; by the end of the season, the Meteorological Office had measured 50.0mm of rainfall, which made for a drier-than-average spring.

The final season of the precipitation year also kicked off with instability as a thunderstorm that yielded 1.6mm of rainfall impacted the Maltese Islands five days into June.

While June produced total rainfall of 3.4 mm, it was ultimately one of the precipitation year’s seven drier-than-average months. All three meteorological summer months were drier than the norm, with July being completely dry.

With 544.8mm of rainfall measured between September 2022 and August 2023, the precipitation year 2022-2023 was the second consecutive year to produce more rainfall than the climate norm of 543.4mm.