Just
as everyone was sighing a sigh a relief after one of the coldest
Februarys on record, and after two whole weeks of mostly sunny, mild and
dry weather in March, we were brusquely thrown back in the dead of
winter by two consecutive days without any sunshine whatsoever,
continuous moderate to heavy rain for over 24 hours (since approximately
1300 CET Saturday) and unseasonably cold temperatures and wind chill.
The
Nadur Weather Observatory recorded a maximum temperature of only 9.6
degrees Celsius on Sunday, March 16th, and that happened at 1300 CET. This was the
lowest temperature recorded in 2003, but not the coldest March maximum
temperature. In March 1993 and again in 1996, even colder maximum
temperatures were recorded, with 7.8 degrees C recorded on March 5,
1996. The temperature
hovered between 7 and 8 degrees C throughout most of the day, with the
minimum of 6.0 degrees C being recorded at 1445 CET. The wind chill
temperature was even lower due to the rather strong NE wind. The wind
chill is defined as the cooling effect felt due to the loss of body heat, caused by the strength
of the wind. This temperature was -9.0 degrees C at
1520 CET at Nadur.
Rainfall
totals accumulated across the Maltese Islands for the 24 hour period
starting Saturday at 1pm were between 35 and 45mm. At Nadur a total of
55.8mm (over 2 inches) were recorded until 5pm Sunday when the rain
finally stopped. The mean March
rainfall at Nadur is only 37.6mm.
The meteorological situation which causes more rain to fall over the Maltese Islands in one day than the March rainfall average was caused by a strong high pressure system centred over Northern Europe which directed a very cold air current from Russia towards the SW. Upon arriving over the Central Mediterranean, this frigid air mass clashed with relatively warm air present there and over Northern Africa, creating very unstable conditions. At present, a depression is forming over the Northern Libyan coast, and this should move East towards Cyprus on Tuesday.
We
expect this stormy weather to last until early Monday morning, when
things should start improving. As strange as it may sound at the moment,
the rest of the coming week should be partly cloudy with moderating
temperatures. If the long-term forecasts are accurate, we should see
maximum temperatures near 20 degrees C before the end of March.
For more details, please visit the Nadur Weather Observatory's website by logging on gozoweather.com or by clicking on the WEATHER link on the left-hand side of this page. You will find live weather readings from Nadur every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. It also includes a 3-day marine forecast, a weather data archives section, a glossary of weather terminology and much more.
