Looking back at the weather for 2017, December enjoyed 36.9 hours of sunshine more than climate norm of 156.3 hours, bringing the year to a brighter-than-expected close.
With no sunshine recorded on the first day, December became sunnier as the month progressed, with the sixth, seventh and twelfth days each enjoying a maximum of 9.2 hours of sunshine the Met Office said today.
November turned out to be the dullest month of the year, while July was the brightest one, with just over 365 hours of summer sunshine.
Sunny and practically cloudless days, July registered some very hot air temperatures, with the mercury shooting up to the year’s highest maximum of 38.7°C on the 13th.
The Met Office added that averaging at 56%, July’s humidity levels were the lowest for 2017; a year which has gone down on record as the least humid since 1951.
January, breezed in with a windswept a cold snap, which saw the temperature dip to the year’s lowest minimum of 4.2°C on three separate occasions.
The Met Office continued by saying that although 2017 started on this rather chilly note, on the whole, the year was slightly warmer than the climate norm, maintaining a mean air temperature of 19.2°C. The average sea temperature ranged between August’s 27.3°C and February’s 15.3°C.
The year had 24 thundery days – six of which were observed in January – and two hail occurrences, with the first one being reported in January and the second one being reported on the 18th of December. The Met Office remarked that on the morrow, the air temperature dropped to the month’s lowest minimum of 6°C; a full 5°C lower than the 30-year average on record for this time of year.
The month’s total rainfall was also lower than the climate norm for December, which amounted to a paltry 44.8mm when compared with the expected 104.8mm.
The wettest month last year was October, contributing over 23% of the year’s total rainfall of 432mm.
Although not as dry as the year preceding it, 2017 was the 23rd driest year the Maltese islands have experienced in the past 94 years, the Met Office said.
Photograph by Alain Salvary