Monthly Reviews

The average maximum temperature during March 2017 in Malaga was 19.9 Celsius (64F), and that was 0.9 Celsius (1.5F) above normal for the time of year. Average maxima were the highest in March for 9 years. The average minimum temperature was 11.1 Celsius (52F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (0.2F) below the normal March value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 27.4 Celsius (81F) and there were 2 other days, the 11th and 20th, when the temperature rose above 26 Celsius (79F). There were only 2 other days, the 10th and 12th, when the temperature exceeded 23 Celsius (73F), but on 11 further occasions the afternoon temperature was above 20 Celsius (68F). There were a few chilly days during March, and on 6 days the temperature remained below 17 Celsius (63F). On 3 of these cooler days, the 14th, 24th and 25th , the temperature stayed below 16 Celsius (61F). However, the only day with a high below 15 Celsius (59F) was the 14th when a maximum of 14.5 Celsius (59F) was measured.

There were several fairly mild nights during March, these mostly occurring before mid month. On 3 nights, the 6th, 11th and 12th, the temperature stayed above 15 Celsius (59F), but the only one of these milder nights with a minimum above 16 Celsius (61F) was the 12th when a low of 16.8 Celsius (62F) was recorded. There were 7 nights with minima above 12 Celsius (54F) before mid month, and only 4 with similar minima after mid month. In fact, the coolest nights of the month, those with minimum temperatures below 10 Celsius (50F), mainly occurred after mid month. Of the 10 coolest nights, there were 3 occurring between the 2nd and 4th, with the other 7 logged between the 23rd and 30th. There were only 3 nights with minima below 7 Celsius (45F), the consecutive nights 24th, 25th and 26th. The middle of these 3 nights was the only one with a value below 6 Celsius (43F). The coldest night of the month had a low of 5.5 Celsius (41F), and this was colder than any night during February.

The sea temperature varied little throughout the month with daily values around 15 Celsius (59F), but nearer 16 Celsius (61F) at the end of the month.

There were 28.4 millimetres (1.1 ins.) of rain during March, and that was over 40% below average. Even so, it was the wettest March for 4 years. There were 7 days with measurable rain and that was normal for the month. The first rain of the month occurred on the 3rd when showery rain mid to late afternoon amounted to 1.5 millimetres (0.06 ins.) Occasional light rain fell on the following morning but only produced 1 millimetre (0.04 ins.). After over a week of dry and very sunny weather, showers occurred on the afternoon of the 13th and gave another 1 millimetre of rain. The 14th was a particularly unpleasant day with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. The total of 19.8 millimetres (0.8 ins.) made it the wettest day of the month. Showery rain produced 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) overnight on the 17th, and a local short-lived downpour gave 4.3 millimetres (0.17 ins.) during the evening of the 26th. Finally, a decaying shower gave 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) just after midnight on the 27th.

There was lightning observed to the south on the evening of the 13th, but the only thunderstorm, occurred when a rather unexpected shower developed around Mijas and turned thundery as it moved east on the evening of the 26th.

The wind through March mainly followed a typical early spring pattern with northwesterly land breezes dominant, and with only fairly brief afternoon sea breezes. However, there were a few days when northwesterly winds persisted throughout the day and were quite strong and blustery. These days coincided with some of the highest temperatures. There were 3 days that differed from the general pattern. Both the 2nd and 16th had a wind blowing predominantly from a south to southeasterly direction. The 14th was also different. It was very windy, and for a while an easterly levanter blew resulting in a gust of 37 knots (42 mph). There were 10 other days when gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph), but the only other day with gusts above 30 knots (34 mph) was the 3rd when 31 knots (35 mph) was recorded.

There was no fog observed in west Malaga during March.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	27.9	4.7	36	30	6
Granada Airport	29.7	-2.0	27	7	5
Almeria	24.3	6.9	45	26	3
Seville	28.4	3.3	55	25	8
Cordoba	29.6	2.1	45	23	9
Jerez de la Frontera	29.4	1.3	67	26	8
Murcia	33.6*	3.8	48	30	3

* A new record

Climatology for March

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	31.4	-1.2	49	102	4
Granada Airport	30.0	-7.6	30	43	5
Almeria	27.2	2.6	15	36	3
Seville	30.8	-2.0	38	75	5
Cordoba	30.6	-4.2	40	80	5
Jerez de la Frontera	30.6	-2.4	42	60	5
Murcia	33.6	-4.2	30	46	3

The average maximum temperature during February 2017 in Malaga was 17.9 Celsius (64F), and that was 0.9 Celsius (1.5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 10.9 Celsius (52F), and that was 1.2 Celsius (2F) above the normal February.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was only 21.7 Celsius (71F) on the 7th. During the last 7 years, each February has produced higher temperatures. However, there were a further 5 days when the temperature exceeded 20 Celsius (68F), including 2 when the temperature rose above 21 Celsius (70F). On the 4th a high of 21.3 Celsius (70F) occurred, and on the 24th the maximum was 21.1 Celsius (70F), although this was the only occasion when the temperature climbed above 20 Celsius (68F) after the 8th. On most days (18) highest temperatures were between 16 and 19 Celsius (61-66F), but there were 3 days when the temperature failed to reach 16 Celsius (61F). Only 1 of these cooler days had a maximum temperature below 15 Celsius (59F) and that was on the 10th when a high of 13.9 Celsius (57F) was recorded.

There were no particularly mild nights during February, although there were 4 nights when the temperature stayed above 13 Celsius (55F). The only 0ne of these milder nights to occur after mid month was, in fact, the mildest night of the month. On the 25th the temperature fell no lower than 14.1 Celsius (57F). There were a few chilly nights during February, an on 8 occasions minima below 10 Celsius (50F) were recorded. Even so, just 2 of these cooler nights had lows under 8 Celsius (46F). On the first night of the month the temperature fell to 7.2 Celsius (45F), but on the 9th a minimum of 6.4 Celsius (43F) occurred.

The sea temperature varied little throughout the month with daily values between 14 and 15 Celsius (57-59F).

There were 93.2 millimetres (3.7 ins.) of rain during February, and that was nearly 60% above average. However, it was only the wettest February for 4 years. There were 8 days with measurable rain and that was normal for the month. Occasional light rain on the 2nd gave o.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) and a similar amount was measured on the 5th after early morning rain. The 10th was a particularly miserable day with the temperature hovering around 10 Celsius (50F) for much of the time, and with showery bursts of rain that totalled 25.4 millimetres (1 inch). The weather stayed unsettled for a further 3 days and each of these days received measurable rain. The total was over 19 millimetres (0.8 ins.) with the 12th the wettest of the 3 with 10.7 millimetres (0.4 ins.) recorded. After 5 dry days, it became very wet in the early hours of the 19th with the heavy overnight rain followed by lighter rain through the morning. The total for the day was 36.8 millimetres (1.4 ins.) with much of the rain falling in just an hour around dawn. The last rain of the month came from showers, some of which were heavy, on the 23rd. They accumulated 10.4 millimetres (0.4 ins.) of rain.

There were 2 days of thunder observed in west Malaga during February. The first series of storms occurred overnight on the 19th with some spectacular lightning at times. The worst of the storms occurred around dawn, and was accompanied by torrential rain which produced flash flooding across Malaga as well as landslips. Thunder also occurred during the showers on the 23rd, with rumbles heard mid and late morning, and also around mid afternoon.

The wind pattern through February followed a typical winter pattern on many days with northwesterly land breezes dominant, and with only the briefest of afternoon sea breezes. However, there were several days when northwesterly winds persisted throughout the day and were quite strong and blustery. Also, there were 2 out breaks of Levanter winds, the strong and damaging east to southeasterly winds, often accompanied by erosion-causing waves. The wind gusted above 20 knots (23 mph) on 10 days, and this included 1 day when gusts exceeded 30 knots (34 mph). The 19th was the windiest day, with the early morning thunderstorms coinciding with a gust of 36 knots (41 mph).

There was no fog observed in west Malaga during February.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	22.3	5.9	102	29	8
Granada Airport	20.9	-3.1	46	14	8
Almeria	22.3	7.3	0.2	0.2	1
Seville	21.9	4.3	49	17	9
Cordoba	23.2	1.1	42	13	11
Jerez de la Frontera	22.5	0.3	*	*	*
Murcia	23.4	2.8	5	2	4

*Data missing

Climatology for February

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	30.0	-3.8	55	151	5
Granada Airport	26.2	-10.0	38	35	6
Almeria	25.7	0.2	21	51	3
Seville	28.0	-5.5	54	68	6
Cordoba	27.8	-5.0	53	61	6
Jerez de la Frontera	29.0	-5.0	60	77	7
Murcia	29.4	-3.9	28	68	3

The average maximum temperature during January 2017 in Malaga was 16.9 Celsius (63F), and that was normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 8.7 Celsius (48F), and that was 0.7 Celsius (1F) below the normal January value. Overall, it was the coolest January for 6 years.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 21.0 Celsius (70F) on the 5th, but there were only 2 other days when the temperature exceeded 20 Celsius (68F). On the 4th a high of 20.9 Celsius (70F) was recorded with 20.6 Celsius (69F) measured on the 11th. On many days (15), maximum temperatures were between 16 and 18 Celsius (61-64F), but during the middle of the third week there was a cold snap, and on 4 consecutive days the temperature failed to rise above 15 Celsius (59F). After a midnight temperature of 14 Celsius (57F) on the 18th, the temperature fell steadily during the rest of the night and failed to rise much above 6 Celsius (43F) during the day. Low relative humidity and a brisk breeze accentuated the cold, but the following day was little better. The maximum for the day was only 9.5 Celsius (49F), making it the coldest January day for 7 years. There were 2 more chilly days to follow but on the 22nd the temperature was up to average again with a high of 17.1 Celsius (63F). The cold weather was felt across the whole of southern Spain, with highs of only 5.5 Celsius (41F) at Granada and 5.2 Celsius (41F) at Murcia, both on the 19th.

There were no particularly mild nights during January, although on the 4th/5th a low of 13.6 Celsius (57F) was measured. There were only 7 other nights when the temperature stayed above 10 Celsius (50F), with only 1 of these nights, the 6th/7th with a low of 12.7 Celsius (55F), remaining above 12 Celsius (54F). On most nights (16) lowest temperatures were between 7 and 10 Celsius (45-50F), and although the minimum on 7 nights was below 7 Celsius (45F), only 3 of these nights had lows under 6 Celsius (43F). On the morning of 9th the temperature dipped to 5 Celsius (41F), with both the 18th and 19th registering 3.4 Celsius (38F).

The sea temperature varied little throughout the month with daily values between 14 and 15 Celsius (57-59F).

There were 20.0 millimetres (0.8 ins.) of rain during January, and that was nearly 70% below average. It was the driest January for 5 years. There were 5 days with measurable rain and that was 3 days below the monthly average. The first 17 days of the month were dry, but light showers occurred on the 18th, with occasional rain falling in the evening. The total for the day was only 1.5 millimetres (0.06 ins.), with showery rain in the morning adding another 2 millimetres (0.08 ins.) to the gauge on the following day. Light rain early on the 20th, barely troubled the statistics, and it then stayed dry until the 26th. On the evening of the 26th, there were 5.8 millimetres (0.2 ins.) of rain, and this rain continued overnight before petering out during the morning. However, the overnight fall of 10.4 millimetres (0.4 ins.) made the 27th the wettest day of the month, with no further rain during the remainder of January.

No thunder was observed in west Malaga during January.

The wind pattern through January followed a typical winter pattern with northwesterly land breezes dominant, and only the briefest of afternoon sea breezes on just a few days. The only days when winds from the east or southeast prevailed were the 1st, 6th and 7th, but the 7th was the only one of these days when gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph). Although, there were a further 8 days when gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph), the highest gust was only 23 knots (26 mph). Remarkably, the 23 knots occurred on 6 days, the 10th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 17th and 22nd.

There was no fog observed in west Malaga during January.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	21.6	2.9	13	10	2
Granada Airport	21.9	-5.0	5	5	1
Almeria	21.0	5.7	24	17	3
Seville	19.3	0.0	12	12	1
Cordoba	21.2	-2.5	13	13	1
Jerez de la Frontera	21.4	-2.7	19	19	1
Murcia	21.6	-1.1	49	43	4

Climatology for January

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	26.8	-2.6	81	121	6
Granada Airport	24.6	-14.2	41	36	6
Almeria	24.4	1.9	23	59	3
Seville	24.2	-4.4	65	66	5
Cordoba	22.9	-8.4	64	79	7
Jerez de la Frontera	25.3	-5.4	89	112	7
Murcia	25.8	-7.5	25	76	3

The average maximum temperature during December 2016 in Malaga was 17.1 Celsius (63F), and that was normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 11.3 Celsius (52F), and that was 1.1 Celsius (2F) above the normal December value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 19.6 Celsius (68F) on the 6th, but there was only 1 other day when the temperature exceeded 19 Celsius (66F). On the 22nd a high of 19.1 Celsius (66F) was recorded. On most days (16), maximum temperatures rose to between 17 and 19 Celsius (63-66F), with a further 9 days having maxima between 16 and 17 Celsius (61-63F). There were no cold days during December, with only 1 day when the temperature failed to reach 15 Celsius (59F). That day was the 17th when the temperature reached 14.4 Celsius (58F).

There were several mild nights, during December, when temperatures were 14 Celsius (57F) or higher. In total, there were 6 of these milder nights with all of them occurring during the first 10 days of the month. Only 1 of the mild nights had a minimum temperature above 15 Celsius (59F), that was the 7th/8th when 15.4 Celsius (60F) was recorded. Although there were no cold nights, on 10 occasions the temperature fell below 10 Celsius (50F). All of these cooler nights occurred after the 14th, but only 5 of them had minima below 9 Celsius (48F), with just 2 having lows under 8 Celsius (46F). On the morning of the 23rd a temperature of 7.8 Celsius (46F) was measured, but the coolest night of the month was on the 27th when a minimum of 6.7 Celsius (44F) was noted.

The sea temperature was remarkably stable throughout the month with daily values between 15 and 16 Celsius, around 60 Fahrenheit.

There were 135.7 millimetres (5.3 ins.) of rain during December, and that was nearly 80% above average. It was the wettest December for 6 years and contrasted starkly with last year when only 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) of rain was measured. There were 9 days with measurable rain and that was 3 days above the monthly average. There were showers on the first day of the month with 4.6 millimetres (0.2 ins.) recorded, and although the following day was dry, light rain on the 3rd totalled 2 millimetres (0.1 ins.). Torrential rain fell around dawn on the 4th, and much local flooding ensued as over 40 millimetres (1.6 ins.) of rain fell in an hour. Lighter rain fell at times during the day, and the total for the 4th reached 71.4 millimetres (2.8 ins.). This was the wettest December day in this part of Malaga since records began in 2005. Light showers on the 5th gave just over 1 millimetre (0.04 ins.) of rain, but then it was dry for 8 days. Steady rain from late afternoon on the 14th produced nearly 14 millimetres (0.5 ins.) of rain with 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) from early showers on the 15th. The 16th was wet overnight and showery in the evening with nearly 13 millimetres (0.5 ins.) of rain recorded. A similar pattern of rainfall occurred on the following day, but the rain was heavy at times with almost 27 millimetres (1.05 ins.) of rain measured. Showery rain early on the 18th totalled 2.8 millimetres (0.1 ins.) and proved to be the last rain of the year.

Although thunder occurred in other parts of Andalucia in association with the heavier rain, no thunder was heard in this part of west Malaga.

The wind pattern through December was typical for an early winter month with northwesterly land breezes dominant, but with spells of east to southeasterly breezes, these often bringing large amounts of cloud and unsettled weather. Apart from during the second week, December was breezier than normal, with gusts exceeding 20 knots (23 mph) on 7 days. Generally, the strongest winds were associated with east to southeasterl;y winds occurring during the first 10 days of the month, and again during the last week of December. On the 3rd a gust of 31 knots (35 mph) occurred, but the highest gust was 35 knots (40 mph) on the 4th.

There was fog observed in west Malaga during the morning of the 12th.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	20.4	5.2	162	85	10
Granada Airport	20.5	-2.0	27	10	9
Almeria	20.9	8.0	151	59	8
Seville	21.6	4.6	64	19	8
Cordoba	20.9	1.6	25	7	6
Jerez de la Frontera	22.2	2.3	63	22	8
Murcia	20.5	4.4	226	76	11

Climatology for December

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	24.6	-0.8	88	133	6
Granada Airport	24.5	-9.2	53	42	7
Almeria	29.2	2.0	23	59*	3
Seville	24.5	-4.8	95	81	8
Cordoba	23.5	-7.8	85	120	6
Jerez de la Frontera	26.8	-5.4	89	101	8
Murcia	25.8	-6.0	21	76*	4