Drier weather in December

The average temperature in the first part of the month - from the 1st to the 17th - was well above the norm of 13.8°C, followed by a drop in air temperature during the latter part of the month.

Between the 18th and 31st the average temperature registered a downward trend.
 
The highest temperature recorded last month was 20.1°C on the 1st of the month. The highest ever recorded in December since 1947 was on the 5th December 1963 when it reached 24.3 °C. The lowest temperature last December was 6.6°C and this was recorded on 20th December. The coolest December night since 1947 was on 22nd December 1967 with a low of 3.6°C.
 
The average sea surface temperature was 18.6°C. This is 1.5°C higher than the average value for December. The mean relative humidity last month was 76% which is lower than the 30-year mean climate average of 80%.
 
Last month 72.8mm of rainfall was recorded at Malta International Airport, which is less than the climate norm of 112.2mm. It is interesting to note that there were three days when thunderstorm was heard at the Malta Airport MetOffice and these were on the 21st , 29th and 30th . The norm thunderstorms days for December is 5 days. Last month we had an average of 5 hours and 54 minutes of sunshine a day, which is 54 minutes more than the December norm.