• June temperature ranged between a minimum of 17.2°C and a maximum of 38°C, reached amid a heatwave
• Mean sea surface temperature was 2°C warmer than the climate norm of 22°C
• June’s maximum wind gust blew at 40.7 knots from the west northwest

The summer season was ushered in by a hotter-than-average June, during which the Meteorological Office in Ħal Luqa registered a maximum temperature of 38°C on the twenty-fourth day. While this maximum temperature was almost 10°C higher than the climate norm for the month, it was well below the hottest June temperature on record, which was registered in 2021 at 41.5°C.

Last month’s lowest temperature, on the other hand, was registered on 18 June at 17.2°C. Despite having clocked 9.3 sunshine hours, the eighteenth day was the least sunlit in a sunnier-than-average month. June’s total sunshine hours, in fact, went over the month’s climate norm of 334.1 sunshine hours by 31.6 hours. Sunnier days were accompanied by clearer skies, with last month’s cloud cover averaging at 0.7 oktas rather than the climate norm of 1.9 oktas.

While June’s wind speed averaged at 7.1 knots, which is 0.5 knots below the norm, the month’s strongest gust blew at 40.7 knots from the west northwesterly direction on 10 June. These winds brought a temporary reprieve from the high temperatures that had been registered at the beginning of the month, which resulted from an anticyclone over Algeria and Tunisia that allowed hot air to move towards the Central Mediterranean.

Following this stretch of more seasonal temperatures halfway through June, the mercury started rising again in the last week of the month, with a six-day heatwave hitting the Maltese Islands between 23 and 28 June. With a mean surface temperature of 24°C, the sea – although 2°C higher than the norm – continued to provide many with some relief from the sweltering weather that brought June to a close.

Published on: 22.07.22