Air Temperature

Highest Maximum 23.6°C 9th
Lowest Maximum 13.7°C 17th
Highest Minimum 17.1°C 9th 
Lowest Minimum 7.9°C 19th

 

Mean Maximum 16.4°C
Mean Minimum 11.8°C
Mean 14.1°C

 

Relative Humidity

Highest Relative Humidity 94%  28th
Lowest Relative Humidity 43% 26th

 

Mean Relative Humidity 74.5%

 

Atmospheric Pressure

Highest Atmospheric Pressure 1030.8hPa 19th and 20th
Lowest Atmospheric Pressure 1001.7hPa 31st

 

Mean Atmospheric Pressure 1015.6hPa

 

Wind

Highest Gust 66.0km/h 26th

 

Mean Wind Speed 12.1km/h
Mean Gust Speed 23.0km/h
Mean Wind + Gust Speed 17.6km/h
Most Frequent Wind Direction Northwest

 

Precipitation

Total Rainfall During January 2021 41.4 mm
Total Rainfall Since Last 01/09 388.3 mm

 

Highest 24 Hour Total 8.5 mm 2nd 

 

Rain Days 18
Thunderstorm Days 4
Hail Days 5

 

Rainfall Events

 

 

01/01/2021 0.6 mm P.M. Shower
02/01/2021 8.5 mm Isolated Thunderstorm
03/01/2021 4.3 mm P.M. Rain/Hail Showers; Distant Thunder
04/01/2021 3.2 mm A.M. Rain/Hail Showers; Distant Thunder
08/01/2021 0.3 mm Isolated Light Rain
12/01/2021 2.3 mm Rain/Hail Showers
13/01/2021 0.5 mm Light Rain
14/01/2021 0.3 mm Light Rain
15/01/2021 1.5 mm Isolated Shower
16/10/2021 1.7 mm Isolated Rain/Hail Shower
17/01/2021 1.6 mm Isolated Shower (Hailstorm in Malta)
18/01/2021 2.1 mm Shower
23/01/2021 0.3 mm Light Rain
24/01/2021 0.3 mm Light Rain
26/01/2021 5.9 mm Showers
27/01/2021 0.5 mm Light Rain
28/01/2021 7.2 mm Showers
31/01/2021 0.3 mm Light Rain

 

January 2021 Compared to the Climate Means

  Climate Mean January 2021 Anomaly
Mean Maximum Temperature 15.4°C 16.4°C +1.0°C
Mean Minimum Temperature 9.9°C 11.8°C +1.9°C
Mean Temperature 12.7°C 14.1°C +1.4°C
Mean Relative Humidity 79% 74.5% -4.5%
Mean Atmospheric Pressure 1018.2hPa 1015.6hPa -2.6hPa
Mean Wind Speed 18.9 km/h 17.6 km/h -1.3 km/h
Most Frequent Wind Direction Northwest Northwest 0°
Total Rainfall 85.4 mm 41.4 mm -44.0 mm
Total Rainfall Since Last 01/09 411.5 mm 388.3 mm -23.2 mm
Total Rain Days 13 days 18 days +5 days
Total Thunderstorm Days 3 days 4 days +1 day
Total Hail Days 1 day 5 days +4 days

 

January 2021 registers warmest ever January day

January 2021 was an extremely mild one for the Maltese Islands. Overall, temperatures were almost 1.5°C warmer than the climate norm. With a mean minimum temperature of 11.8°C, nights were a staggering 1.9°C warmer than average. For five days, around mid-January, the Maltese Islands experienced what will likely be the coldest part of winter. The nighttime low of 7.9°C, measured on the 19th, was the coldest for this month. Saturday 9th January, on the second weekend of 2021, broke Malta’s record for the warmest temperature ever measured in January. A very warm air mass advecting across the central Mediterranean from over the Sahara Desert caused the temperature at our weather station in Għarb to shoot up to 23.6°C. An even warmer value of 25.8°C was measured at the airport in Luqa. That same day was to break the record for the warmest January night ever as well. The minimum air temperature that day dipped to only 17.1°C. The corresponding value at the airport in Luqa was of 19.4°C. This warm temperature was largely due to a dense covering of mid-level cloud which trapped heat beneath.

Rain over the course of Janaury 2021 came in frequent showery episodes and was fairly evenly distributed over the whole month. Despite at least one shower occurring on 18 days (or more than half of all days in January) last month, January 2021 will still go down as having been a drier than average one in terms of total rainfall. The 41.4 mm of rain measured in Għarb over the course of last month was just half of the rainfall normally experienced in a typical January. This situation wasn’t echoed all around the Maltese Islands. In fact, Għarb was the driest around the Maltese Islands. Although most localities still registered below average totals, they fared far better. Rainfall accumulations did exceed the climate norm in some localities. The 92.8 mm of rain garnered in Dingli, made it Malta’s wettest locality for January 2021. Hail was observed on 5 days last month. One of these saw a handful of localities in Malta experience an abundance of this frozen precipitation.

The wind, which blew mainly from a northwesterly direction, reached at least Force 7 on the Beaufort Scale on a total of nine days last month. It reached Force 8 on four of these, with the strongest gust of 66.0 km/h coming during the gale on the 26th.

The greater incidence of rainy days and an increased frequency in days with strong winds was also reflected in readings of atmospheric pressure. Overall, readings of atmospheric pressure across the central Mediterranean revealed a trend of persistent zones of instability working their way into the region.

 

 

Rainfall Totals around the Maltese Islands in January 2021 (and since last September 1st)

Għarb – 41.4 mm (388.3 mm)

Victoria – 67.5 mm (394.9 mm)

Xewkija – 59.5 mm (321.3 mm)

Nadur – 67.7 mm (455.9 mm)

Mellieħa – 50.6 mm (261.8 mm)

Buġibba – 75.3 mm (308.6 mm)

Mġarr – 78.4 mm (287.3 mm)

Għargħur – 86.7 mm (389.0 mm)

Attard – 83.9 mm (459.7 mm)

Rabat – 92.8 mm (299.9 mm)

Msida – 91.8 mm (408.5 mm)

Valletta – 53.4 mm (253.6 mm)

Luqa – 78.8 mm (405.4 mm)

Żabbar – 90.1 mm (431.0 mm)

Birżebbuġa – 61.0 mm (298.3 mm)