Learn About The Weather

The Maltese Islands are currently experiencing an extended dry spell. Most days are featuring plentiful sunshine with light and variable winds. On days like these, temperatures are relatively warm by...

Before any cold snap, we’re often asked if the Maltese Islands could get any snow. The answer to this question is a convincing “No”. This is because of two reasons:...

A decrease in commercial airline flights because of Covid-19 has fundamentally affected meteorologist’s capacity to precisely predict the weather. All around the globe, studies have revealed that forecast accuracy plummeted...

If you’ve noticed that the sea is not particularly refreshing, you’re not imagining it! The surface temperature around the Maltese Islands has peaked at 29⁰C. That is some 2⁰C warmer...

The phrase ‘urban heat island effect’ was coined by scientists to describe the impact that urbanisation has on the climate of where humans live. Today, some 55% of the world’s...

The astronomical start of a season is based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun. The start of each season is marked by either a solstice...

A fine day with a light to moderate wind. The sea is not too rough. You’re off for a day at the beach. No matter how calm the sea is,...

The Sun The Sun is the center of our solar system, around which all planets orbit. Like all stars, the Sun’s a giant ball of super heated hydrogen gas. Comprising...

The high, white, delicate cirrus cloud species occur generally in curved filaments or straight lines. Like all cirrus clouds, they are composed entirely of gently falling ice crystal, at altitudes...

The anvil-shaped summit of a large cumulonimbus cloud, the incus, is an icy canopy that can grow to enormous heights above the main body of the cloud, spreading out laterally...

People have been trying to predict the weather for thousands of years. You’d assume that by now we’d have it sorted out. Yet, you open three different weather sites and...

The chief suspect behind these unusually dry past two months is an atmospheric pressure pattern called the Arctic Oscillation, which circles the high Northern Hemisphere. Its lower edge is known as...

Cities across southern Europe are experiencing dangerously high levels of smog caused by a prolonged period of dry sunny weather and light winds. Temporary bans on diesel vehicles have been...

Intense thunderstorms have brought heavy rain, hail and strong winds to some regions of Australia. Several of the regions hit have been ravaged by some of the worst bush fires...

Bush fires are by no means alien to Australia. They are a yearly occurrence which has been taking place for centuries if not millennia. In southeast Australia, bush fires are most...

A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a stretch of land (normally a highland or mountainous area). This stretch of land dries up the air...

The astronomical start of a season is based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun. The start of each season is marked by either a solstice...

The atmosphere around the Maltese Islands is choked with fine desert sand from the Sahara Desert today. Ever wondered how it ends up here?   Transport of Fine Desert Sand...

With the recent earthquakes across the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, you may be asking yourselves about whether the Maltese Islands are at risk of an earthquake or not. The...

A number of weather conditions (mainly humidity, temperatures, dusty atmosphere and lack of sun) mess our brain chemistry. For example sunshine gives us serotonin (a chemical which makes us feel...

Fine dust from the Sahara desert crosses the Atlantic to South America on a frequent basis. This is the result of the Northeasterly Trade Winds at this latitude. This sand...

The sea has recently breached the shoreline in a number of coastal towns and villages in Malta. This was not caused by the tide but is a phenomenon referred to...

We’ve mentioned the terms ‘Mediterranean Tropical-Like Cyclone’ and ‘Medicane’ multiple times in the past few hours or so. What is it? Mediterranean cyclones are a very rare meteorological phenomenon. The majority...

Low clouds have cloud bases below 2,000 meters so their various shapes and characteristics are clearly evident to us on the ground. They are somewhat more varied and dynamic than...

Low clouds have cloud bases below 2,000 meters so their various shapes and characteristics are clearly evident to us on the ground. They are somewhat more varied and dynamic than...

Never the same twice, clouds are the most dynamic features of our natural world. They can vary from benign, fluffy white masses drifting in the summer sky to towering storm...

DEW AND FROST Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on exposed surfaces in the morning or evening due to the process of condensation. On a cold and...

THE WATER SUBSTANCE Earth is often called the Blue Planet for it is the presence of liquid water that sets our home apart in the solar system. Water is a...

EARTH AS A WATER WORLD Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has large volumes of surface water. Oceans cover 71% of Earth’s surface and contain 97.5%...

LAND AND SEA BREEZES Have you ever noticed how during the day in summer, a fresh breeze blows over a beach and then at nights it stops? Land warms faster...

ANTICYCLONES A high pressure system, also known as an anticyclone occurs when the weather is dominated by stable conditions. Under anticyclonic conditions, the air is descending, forming an area of...

General Circulation of the Atmosphere It has been shown in previous notes, that there is a surplus of energy towards the Equator and a deficit nearer to the poles. In...

How is wind formed? Changes in air pressure and temperature usually start and maintain wind. Generated by differential heating of the Earth’s surface, pressure differences may develop on all scales,...

What is temperature? Temperature is a measure of the heat, or average kinetic energy, of molecules in a substance. It is one of the most important weather and climate parameters...

Reason for Seasons  Seasons are distinct periods during the year characterised by annually recurring weather changes. The varying intensity and duration of incoming solar radiation as Earth orbits the Sun,...

The Sun The Sun is the center of our solar system, around which all planets orbit. Like all stars, the Sun is a giant ball of super heated hydrogen gas....

What is weather? What is the difference between weather and climate? Earth is surrounded by a thin envelope of gases, the atmosphere. The term weather is used to describe the...

The weather affects us all. Weather has always been elemental to the course of human history. We have dedicated an area from our website to teach the general public on...