As explained earlier this week, the Maltese Islands are in for a very stormy weekend. This is the result of an intense low pressure system over the Balkans moving slowly towards the central Mediterranean. This system of low pressure will intensify further as it comes into contact with warmer air locally. This low pressure system will affect us on Saturday 23/02, Sunday 24/02 and Monday 25/02. Its primary impact will be a rapid drop in temperature. The maximum on all three days will struggle to reach 13 C. Nights will be very cold, with temperatures expected to dip to below 10 C. The coldest will be Sunday 24/02, with a 10 C high and 4 C low. Real-feels will be much lower, due to the strong wind. In fact, Sunday’s nighttime low may feel as cold as -2 C. This low pressure system is expected to pass close to the Maltese Islands. Apart from the cold temperatures, there will also be numerous periods of steady rain and/or hail that will be heavy and thundery at times. The hail will be mainly small, but may be in copious amounts at times. Much of the precipitation should fall from early evening on Saturday 23/02 till late evening on Sunday 24/02. Some isolated showers are also possible during the night from Friday 22/02 to Saturday 23/02. We could receive up to 25 mm of precipitation, with central and southern Malta expected to be the hardest hit. Another impact of this low pressure system will be an extremely strong wind from the North to Northeast. Saturday 23/02 will experience Force 4/5 to 5/6 winds from the North to North Northwest. Sunday 24/02 will see a Force 8/9 wind from the Northeast. Gusts may reach up to Force 10 in exposed areas. This could very easily result in disruptions to the ferry service from Malta to Gozo and from Valletta to Sicily.

The situation will start recovering on Monday 25/02. The wind will start decreasing gradually then, starting off at Force 8/9 from the Northeast and decreasing to Force 3/4 from the West Northwest by evening. Temperatures will also warm up to average on Monday 25/02. A little residual rainfall could still occur. Any relevant warnings will be issued in the coming hours.

Kif spjegat aktar kmieni din il-ġimgħa, il-Gżejjer Maltin għandhom jesperjenzaw tmiem il-ġimgħa ta’ maltemp. Dan se jkun ir-riżultat ta’ sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxa intensa li minn fuq il-Balkani se tersaq bilmod lejn iċ-ċentru tal-Mediterran. Din is-sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxa se tintensifika aktar hekk tiġi f’kuntatt ma arja aktar sħuna lokalment. Din is s-sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxa se taffetwana l-aktar nhar is-Sibt 23/02, il-Ħadd 24/02 u t-Tnejn 25/02. L-impatt primarju tagħha se jkun inżul drastiku fit-temperaturi. L-ogħla fit-tlett ijiem li huma se tbati biex tilħaq it-13 C. L-iljieli se jkun kesħin ħafna, bit-temperaturi mistennija jinżlu taħt l-10 C. L-aktar jum kiesaħ se jkun il-Ħadd 24/02, meta t-temperatura se titla sa 10 C u tinżel għal-4 C. Dawn se jkunu jinħassu ferm aktar kesħin minħabba r-riħ qawwi. Fil-fatt, il-Ħadd din se tkun tinħass daqs li kieku -2 C. Din is-sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxi mistenni tgħaddi qrib ħafna tal-Gżejjer Maltin. MInbarr it-temperaturi kesħin, se jkun hemm ukoll numru ta’ perjodi kontinwi ta’ xita u silġ, li se jkunu qawwijin u bir-ragħad kultant. Is-silġ se jkun pjuttost żgħir, imma jista jagħmel f’ammonti konsiderevoli kultant. Il-biċċa l-kbira tax-xita se taqa minn kmieni filgħaxija tas-Sibt 23/02 sa tard filgħaxija tal-Ħadd 24/02. Xi ħalbiet iżolati tax-xita xorta waħda jkunu possibli matul il-lejl ta’ bejn il-Ġimgħa 22/02 u s-Sibt 23/02. Nistgħu naraw sa 25 mm ta’ xita, biċ-ċentru u n-nofsinhar ta’ Malta jkunu l-aktar fir-riskju. Impatt ieħor ta’ din is-sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxa huwa r-riħ qawwi ħafna mit-Tramuntana għal-Grigal. Is-Sibt 23/02 se jesperjenza riħ ta’ Forza 4/5 għal-5/6 mit-Tramuntana għal-Majjistral it-Tramuntana. Il-Ħadd 24/02 se nesperjenzaw riħ ta’ Forza 8/9 mill-Grigal. Xi buffuri kapaċi jilħqu Forza 100 fejn espost. Dan jista faċilment jirriżulta f’dewmien fil-vjaġġi minn Malta għal-Għawdex u minn Malta għal-Sqallija.

Is-sitwazzjoni se tibda tirkupra it-Tnejn 25/02. Ir-riħ mistenni jnaqqa daqs xejn, u jibda minn Forza 8/9 mill-Grigal u jonqos għal-Forza 3/4 mill-Punent Majjistru sa filgħaxija. It-temperature wkoll mistennija jitilgħu mal-medja t-Tnejn 25/02. Xi ftit xita residwa tista taffetwana dakinhar. It-twissijiet kollha neċessarji se jinħarġu fis-sigħat li ġejjin.