May had higher temperatures, more wind than normal

The weather last month was warmer and windier than the norm, with the highlight being four days of heavy dust haze, the MIA Met Office said in its monthly report today. Last month’s average air temperature of 20.5°C exceeded the climate norm of 19.1°C by 1.4°C. The highest temperature was registered on May 2, when it peaked to 28.7°C – 5.4°C more than the 30-year maximum climate norm. The highest temperature ever reached in May was 35.3°C on May 23, 2006. The lowest temperature last month was 14.4°C on May 14. The coolest May night was on May 4, 1970 with a low of 8°C. May 2013 was also much drier than normal with a total of 1.4mm of rainfall when the 30 year norm is 6.7mm. The lowest amount measured in the month of May is a trace measured at the Malta Airport MetOffice in Luqa was in May 2012. The average sea surface temperature was 18.3°C. This is 0.8°C higher than the average value for May. The mean relative humidity last month was 67% which is lower than the 30-year mean climate average of 74%. In May 2013 Malta had an average of 10 hours of bright sunshine a day, which was more than the May norm of 9.7 hours. The dullest day was the 21st with 0.8 hours of sunshine while the...