ENGLISH/INGLIŻ

The combination of an intense low pressure system over the eastern Mediterranean and an anticyclone over the western Mediterranean will be drawing in frigid air from Russia’s Siberia. This outbreak of cold air will impact eastern and southern Europe. The Maltese Islands will be just within reach of this cold air. The air temperature will be significantly colder than average on three days: Sunday 14/2, Monday 15/2 and Tuesday 16/2. Monday 15/2, the coldest of the three days, will see the temperature remaining below 10°C at all times. The daytime high will struggle to reach 12°C on the other two days. Nighttime lows may dip to as low as 3°C on all three days. The frigid northerly wind will mean realfeels of below 10°C by day and below 0°C at times by night. Sunday 14/2 will be the only wet day of the three. This is because the cold air will clash with the warm air locally on arrival, sparking a rainy episode. Hail is likely to accompany the rain at times. Although less likely, thunder is also possible. Total rainfall accumulations may exceed 10 mm in areas. Temperatures will settle at around average (highs of 14°C / 15°C and lows of 8°C / 9°C) from Wednesday 17/2 onward.

Before any cold snap, we’re often asked if the Maltese Islands could get any snow. The answer to this question is a convincing “No”. This is because of two reasons: the air temperature will not be cold enough and the sea’s moderating affect doesn’t permit snow to reach the ground across the Maltese Islands. We may still experience an interesting phenomenon, however. It is the occurrence of graupel (also referred to as soft hail). This is a form of precipitation which resembles crumbled polystyrene (jablo) that forms when supercooled droplets of water are collected and freeze on a falling snowflake, forming a 2-5 mm ball of rime. They fall gently like snow, so it’s easy to tell hail and graupel apart.

Anyone wishing to glimpse a sight of Sicily (and probably also the snow-covered Mount Etna) on the horizon will certainly be able to do so on these days.

 

MALTI / MALTESE

Il-kumbinazzjoni ta’ sistema ta’ pressjoni baxxa intensa fuq il-lvant tal-Mediterran u antiċiklun fuq il-punent tal-Mediterran se tiġġenera kurrenti kesħin ħafna minn fuq is-Siberja tar-Russja. Din l-arja ġelida se taffetwa l-lvant u n-nofsinhar ta’ l-Ewropa. Il-Gżejjer Maltin se jkun fil-mira ta’ din il-kesħa wkoll. It-temperaturi se jkunu ħafna anqas mill-medja għal tlett ijiem: il-Ħadd 14/2, it-Tnejn 15/2 u t-Tlieta 16/2. Matul nhar it-Tnejn 15/2, l-aktar jum kiesaħ minnhom, it-temperatura għandha tibqa taħt l-10°C il-ħin kollu. L-ogħla temperatura se tbati biex tilħaq it-12°C fil-jumejn l-oħra. It-temperatura matul it-tlett iljieli li huma taf tinżel sa 3°C. Ir-riħ kiesaħ mit-Tramuntana se jfisser li t-temperaturi matul il-jum jinħassu daqs li kieku taħt l-10°C, waqt li dawk ta’ billejl xi kultant jinħassu daqs li kieku taħt ż-0°C. Il-Ħadd 14/2 se jkun l-uniku jum bix-xita. Mal-wasla tagħha, l-arja kiesħa tiltaqa ma’ l-arja sħuna u umda madwarna u toħloq episodju ta’ xita. Dan għandu jkun akkumpanjat minn silġ. Għalkemm mhux daqstant possibli, jaf ikollna xi ragħad ukoll. It-total ta’ xita kapaċi jaqbeż l-10 mm f’xi nħawi. It-temperaturi se jirritornaw għal medja klimatika (l-ogħla ta’ 14°C / 15°C u l-anqas ta’ 8°C / 9°C ) minn nhar il-Erbgħa 17/2 ‘il quddiem.

Qabel kull episodju ta’ kesħa, ħafna jistaqsuna jekk hux possibbli li f’Malta tagħmel il-borra. It-tweġiba għal din il-mistoqsija hija “Le”. Dan għal żewġ raġunijiet: il-fatt li t-temperatura ta’ l-arja mhux se tkun kiesħa biżejjed u l-effett li l-baħar ikollu fuq l-arja ma jħallix borra tasal sa l-art fil-Gżejjer Maltin. Minkejja dan, xorta waħda jeżisti ċ-ċans li nesperjenzaw fenomenu xi ftit interessanti. Dan huwa silġ irqiq (graupel). Dan huwa forma ta’ preċipitazzjoni li fl-għamla tiegħu jixbah it-tajjar jew ġablo li jifforma meta ilma kiesaħ f’forma likwida jitħallat mal-borra waqt l-inżul mis-sħab u jifforma frak bid-daqs ta’ 2-5 mm. Dawn jinżlu bilmod bħal borra, u għalhekk wieħed faċilment jiddistingwi dan is-silġ irqiq minn silġ normali.

Kull min jixtieq jilmaħ lil Sqallija (u probabilment anke l-vulkan Etna) se jkun jista jagħmel dan matul dawn il-jiem ta’ kesħa.