June, July and August this year were all drier than average months, an analysis of precipitation in Malta and Gozo between September 2022 and August 2023 has shown.

With 3.4mm of rain, June was one of seven months in that 12-month period to be drier than average. July was completely dry, with no rainfall recorded. August registered 3.8mm of rainfall, significantly less than the norm of 9.7mm.

The data was published on Friday by the meteorological office at Malta International Airport, as part of an analysis of what meteorologists call the ‘precipitation year’.

The precipitation year runs from September 1 to August 31 of each year.

Despite having seven months that were drier than average, the 2022-2023 precipitation year was the second consecutive year to produce more rainfall than the norm.

Data shows that 544.8mm of rainfall fell on the country between September 2022 and August 2023 – 1.4mm more than the average of 543.4mm.

Much of the 2022-2023 precipitation year’s rainfall came in bursts.

November saw almost double the amount of rainfall than the norm, with several rainy days contributing 151.2mm of rain. That was practically double the 78.4mm measured between September and October.

And one of the wettest Februaries on record saw 181.6mm of rainfall, with much of that being dumped in a five-day period when Storm Helios hit the country.

February produced 70 per cent of the 258 mm of rainfall measured during the meteorological winter, making up for a much drier-than-average December (6.4mm) and slightly below-average January (70mm).

In stark contrast to February, March produced only 3mm of rainfall, missing the monthly quota by 36.7 mm. April and May were both wetter-than-average months as low-pressure systems that persisted until May gave rise to several instances of unstable weather.

However, this was not enough to offset March’s dryness; by the end of the March-April-May three-month period, the Meteorological Office had measured 50mm of rainfall, which made for a drier-than-average spring.