Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523079
16 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 26 JUNE 2024 NEWS Spring drier and hotter than norm as heatwave takes mercury to 32°C F Solution to last week's crossword The answers to today's crossword will be published in next week's Midweek edition Weather Partly cloudy Visibility Good Wind Northwest force 5 to 6 backing West Northwest force 6 to 7. Overnight becoming force 5 to 6 Sea Rough, locally very rough at times TOMORROW Crossword WEATHER SUNNY 29 0 / 32 0 TODAY SUNNY 26 / 20 0 FEELS LIKE 32 FEELS LIKE 29 0 ACROSS 1) Circle parts 5) Police team acronym 9) Tonsil attachment? 13) Type of salmon 14) "Pet" that's really a plant 15) Chilling? 16) An image of worship 17) Equestrian's tool 19) Do electrolysis on 21) Provide bearings to 22) Puts the kibosh on 23) Functions 24) Reposition, as tires 26) Divides in three 30) Kuwaiti big shots 31) Beach playthings 32) Back muscle, for short 33) Like doilies 34) Airport bummer 35) Half a gas mileage rating 36) Pen filler 37) Piece of cake 38) Place for a buttonhole 39) Artificial reservoirs 41) Sound quality 42) Foam at the mouth 43) Jazz ensemble 44) Blame 47) Wave makers 50) Near disaster 52) "Dang!" relative 53) Quits marching 54) No longer hung up on 55) Between activities 56) Mini-whirlpool 57) Animal shelters 58) Play ___ (compete in tennis) DOWN 1) Hydrochloric, for one 2) Was a passenger 3) Some eating utensils 4) Lone 5) Abrasive injury 6) Minuscule amounts 7) Capitol Hill worker 8) Clavell's "___-Pan" 9) Cut with a scalpel 10) Get weary 11) Computer graphic symbol 12) Seven, at the Sorbonne 15) Fiona, in the "Shrek" films 18) In the manner of a meddler 20) A great deal 23) Dickens character Heep 24) Ancient item 25) Particular Arab 26) Powders for bathers 27) Paper supporters 28) Four-bagger in Ida- ho? 29) Hairdresser's forte 31) Tubular pasta 34) Funeral hymns 35) Thailand's neighbour 37) Stops 38) Treehouse foundation 40) Dependable and unfailing 41) Illegal parkers' worry 43) Group of witches 44) Charley horse 45) Fully clothed 46) Far from warm 47) "Two thumbs up, way up," e.g. 48) Story that may be tall 49) "It's OK after all" in editing 51) Bricklayer's carrier THE first heatwave of the year has rounded out the spring sea- son, with temperatures exceed- ing 32°C. The summer season arrived in full force, bringing temper- atures typically seen in July and August to the Maltese is- lands. However, the preceding months were also unseasonably warm, with the meteorological spring being hotter and drier than the norm. March was significantly drier than the climatic norm, while April offered a taste of summer with temperatures reaching 29.4°C, and May brought with it the year's first heatwave, spanning from the 16th until the 18th of the month. All three months of the mete- orological spring were warmer than average. In March, the air temperature peaked at 27.9°C (norm 17.4°C), on April 1st the mercury hit 29.4°C (norm 20.1°C), and on May 18th the air temperature soared to 32.3°C (norm 24.3°C). The same was also the case with precipitation volumes, as the three months of spring were significantly drier than the climatic norm, bar the oc- casional occurrences of blood rain. Between March and May, the Meteorological Office's weath- er stations in Malta and Gozo recorded only 26.2mm of rain, compared to the spring norm of 68.6 mm. May was the driest month of the season, receiving only 5.8 mm rain across three days, and consequently falling 4.4 mm short of the climatic norm. May followed suit, with only a few light showers resulting in 5.8 mm of rain, which is less than half of the usual amount for the month. Most of this to- tal (4.8 mm) fell on May 8th, which was also the dullest day of the month, with less than one hour of sunshine recorded. Cloudy skies and dust in sus- pension contributed to May being gloomier than average. As a result, the Meteorologi- cal Office recorded 300.8 hours of sunshine in May, nearly sev- en hours below the monthly norm. A closer look at the temper- atures measured in May also put last month almost a de- gree warmer than the norm, with the average temperature standing at 21.1°C. While May brought with it the first heat- wave of the year, 2006 still holds the record for the high- est temperature measured in May, when the mercury rose to 35.3° C. May rounds out spring with dry and warm weather conditions