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maltatoday, SATURDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2016 6 News Predicting the weather for 2017: sun in January but rain in July? The Irwiegel rules throws up strange weather forecasts for 2017, including sunshine in the winter and storms in the summer TIM DIACONO IT may not have any scientific ba- sis but a few farmers and villagers still cling to the Irwiegel, a tradi- tional form of weather forecasting based on the weather patterns in the run-up to Christmas. Yet their beliefs may well be test- ed to the limit next year, with the 2017 Irwiegel Calendar throwing up some particularly unorthodox predictions. Indeed, the tradi- tional winter months of January, February, November and Decem- ber have been forecast to be the sunniest months of the year. In contrast, cloudy weather has been forecast for every day in April and May, while March, May and July have been forecast as the raini- est months of next year. Wind is expected to be strongest in April, May and July. In the days before barometers, weather radars and satellites, Mal- tese people used to rely on the Ir- wiegel to predict the weather in the year ahead. Between 13 December and Christmas Eve, they used to observe and record detailed weath- er patterns of each day, including shifts in the wind, the amounts of clouds in the sky and the presence or absence of rainfall and sunshine. Each day would then correspond to a month in the next year – the 13th to January, the 14th to Febru- ary and so on, until the 24th which would correspond to December. Each day was then divided into the number of days of each corre- sponding month, thereby gaining a weather forecast for every day of the year. It is not a purely Maltese tradition and indeed similar variations used to exist in Sicily, France and other parts of Northern Europe, but has for some reason survived longer in Malta than in other countries. The Met Office dismisses the Ir- wiegel folklore entirely, due to its pure lack of scientific grounding. "I can't understand it to be hon- est," a bemused Met Office spokes- person said when asked by Malta- Today. "By luck, the Irwiegel could prove accurate but meteorology today has become so advanced in providing real data. Some people still keep the Irwiegel for the fun of it, I suppose…" Sean Vella Caruana is a 44-year- old engineer whose interest in the Irweigel was first piqued when he was a nine-year-old boy listening in on the conversations of his grand- parents and his father's teacher colleagues. In his free time, he now runs a Facebook page that posts monthly updates on the Irwiegel for the coming month. A full calen- dar of the Irwiegel predictions for 2017 can be downloaded from his page for €4.71. Yet he is clear from the outset that his calendar is not supposed to be taken as a serious weather forecasting alternative to the Met Office, but rather as a "a bit of fun" that can be freely interpreted as one pleases. When asked by MaltaToday to explain previous glaring shortcom- ings in the calendar, such as storms in July 2016, Vella Caruana laughed it off. "I see it all as just a bit of fun, as a way of keeping old Maltese tra- dition alive," he said. "Most people who keep the Irwiegel do so with a pinch of salt, but for those people who are fixated with the Irwiegel, it becomes a matter of observation. For example, cloudy weather fore- cast in the summer months could be interpreted as high levels of hu- midity." In a brief explanation of the 2017 forecasts, he said that Malta should expect nice weather in January and February but a longer winter than usual. "We'll have to wait and see… sometimes it gets it right and other times it doesn't…" tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt "I see it all as just a bit of fun, as a way of keeping old Maltese tradition alive" JAMES DEBONO AFTER controversy and protests against the proposed uni- versity campus at Zonqor Point, the government has been reluctant on pushing major projects outside development zones. But the pressure on town centres has continued un- abated, alongside the mushrooming of small-scale devel- opments interspersed in the countryside thanks to policies approved in the past years. These are the 10 most controversial permits issued in 2016. 38-storey tower in Sliema proposed by the Gasan Group Not only will the tower change the landscape but also noise for residents during 10 months of excavations will exceed 96 decibels – a level considered to be substantial. 28 trucks will be wending their way every day through Sliema streets. Construction is expected to take four years. The permit is awaiting a final verdict by the Tribunal for Environmental and Planning Review, following appeals by NGOs, the local council and the Environment and Re- sources Authority. Mriehel Towers proposed by the Gasan and Tumas groups The project consists of four cylindrical tower blocks, comprising 16, 17, 19 and 14 storeys, sitting on top of five basement levels. The project was approved despite evi- dence that photomontages published in the EIA were taken by wide angle, thus minimizing the impact of buildings on landscape. Heart-shaped extension of the Ramla Bay Hotel proposed by Holden Group, a company owned by Tarcisio Galea Group of Companies The application increases the massing of the existing hotel by replacing 45 apartments with 100 apartments through a heart shaped seven-storey block of high apart- ments, three restaurants, a nightclub and a bar. The visual impact of the project (which will dominate views from the Gozo ferry terminal) was defended by the architect of the project, Ray Demicoli, recently appointed as a member of the PA's Design Advisory Committee, who insisted that the curves of the project integrate well with the "natural con- text of sea and rocky shore". Demolition of Art deco house in Qui si-Sana The demolition will make way for 15 flats, two overlying penthouses and 57 car spaces. "These houses are as impor- tant to Sliema as Siculo-Norman architecture is to Mdina," conservation architect Edward Said said. NGOs have ap- pealed against this decision. ODZ villa instead of a pile of rubble at Tal-Fata in Zabbar Controversial permits: how 2016 was marked by the PA's largesse Here's the calends' predictions for January 2017. See if they got it right... A cold snap, but still temperate and beautiful sunny days even in December in Malta: Hofret ir-Rizz, in Rabat, basks in the sunshine of the Christmas season. Photo: Chris Mangion