• Highest air temperature reaches 36°C, lowest drops to 21.8°C
• Trace amounts of rainfall measured by the end of August
• Over 331 hours of sunshine recorded

As the summer days wore on, high temperatures stayed put on the Maltese Islands. While July registered a mean air temperature of 27.9°C, a hot August drove the average air temperature up to 28.2°C, one degree warmer than the climate norm. The mean sea surface temperature was also one degree warmer than the climate norm, reaching 27.3°C.

The first few days of the month were characterised by pleasant temperatures, which dropped to 21.8°C on August 6th. The maximum temperature for August was registered just before the Santa Maria holidays, when the mercury hit 36°C on the 13th of the month. The sun was out in full force the following week, shining for 13.2 hours on the 18th and 19th of August, making these the brightest days of the month.

One of the contributors to warmer-than-average temperatures was August’s lack of rainfall, seeing as only trace amounts of precipitation were measured on August 29th. Only 1.2 hours of sunshine were recorded on the day, making it the dullest day of the month. August was also slightly calmer than expected, seeing as the month’s mean wind speed only reached 6 knots; half a knot calmer than the norm. 

Averaging at 0.9 oktas, the cloud cover for August was relatively lighter than the expected 1.2 oktas, thus contributing to a 19.3 hour-increase in sunshine hours over the same month in 2018, when only 312.1 hours of sunshine were recorded. Nonetheless, the total of 331.4 hours of sunshine recorded throughout the month still fell slightly short of the monthly average of 335.3 hours.