September was warmer and slightly windier and wetter than usual, the  Meteorological Office in Luqa said on Friday.

Last month ushered in the first rain showers of the new precipitation year, with 59.8 mm of precipitation measured in Luqa. 

This total was slightly above the 1991 to 2020 climate norm of 59.2mm, and was collected over the span of two days on September 22 and 23. Rainfall was accompanied by thunder on these two days, with a third thunderstorm reported by the Meteorological Office on September 30.

September 22, which accounted for 84 per cent of the month’s total rainfall, was the month’s wettest and gloomiest day.

However, having clocked 12.1 hours of sunshine in excess of the monthly norm of 253.1 hours, September was sunnier than expected at this time of year.

This can be partly explained by the month’s mean cloud cover of 2.0 oktas, which was lower than the norm of 2.8 oktas.

September was warmer than average, with the month’s mean maximum temperature of 29.5°C exceeding the norm by 0.9°C and the mean minimum temperature surpassing the norm of 21.2°C by 1.5°C.

While September’s highest temperature peaked at 32.6°C on the eleventh day, the lowest temperature dipped to 17.0°C as rain showered the islands for the second consecutive day. At 27.9°C, the mean sea surface temperature was higher than the climate norm of 26.1°C.

A mean wind speed of 7.5 knots was maintained in September, making the month slightly windier than the norm. The month’s maximum gust was measured on September 17 at 32 knots, blowing from the Northwest.