[WATCH] Summer rainfall but no ‘medicane’ as Met Office forecasts sunshine for Santa Marija weekend

While summer rainfall is expected in the coming days, the Meteorological Office at the Malta International Airport is not expecting any severe thunderstorms before the Santa Marija weekend.

Saviour Zerafa, a meteorological officer, explained to MaltaToday that clouds are set to cover the Maltese islands on Wednesday, with possible rain showers.

“For Thursday, it appears that the centre of the Mediterranean will be unstable, with rain over this entire area. It will reach us as well,” he explained.

Zerafa added that cloud coverage will reach six oktas, meaning roughly 6/8 of the sky will be covered by clouds, “or broken as we say in meteorology”.

Friday’s weather conditions will remain unstable, with a forecast of isolated showers across the Maltese islands.

Unofficial weather forecasting portals have pointed towards severe weather conditions in the coming days, with possibilities of a 'medicane' ripping through the Mediterranean. 

While neighbouring Sicily and other parts of Italy have experienced thunderstorms this week, Zerafa said that the weather models aren't pointing towards anything extreme.

Nonetheless, chances of thunderstorms are not zero. Zerafa remarked that the weather models are not always fully accurate this time of year, making a Thursday thunderstorm all the more possible. 

Despite the less-than-ideal weather predictions for the coming days, nothing but sunshine is expected for the long Santa Marija weekend.

“After these three days we’re expecting the weather to be sunny again, it will clear up for the last three days and Santa Marija.”

Marine heatwave

Medicane chances are slim, but Malta's shores have been hit by a first-ever marine heatwave. 

Until a few years ago the landmark temperature of 30°C in surface waters used to be reached at the end of summer, but the same temperature was reached in August for the first time in the summer of 2021.

In 2022, water surface temperatures reached 30°C during the last days of July.

Zerafa said that this marine heatwave has not had any noticeable effects on Malta's weather yet. However, in more unstable conditions a marine heatwave could affect thunderstorms due to surface heating. This would make thunderstorms more frequent and more intense.

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