Weather in Malaga during December 2007
Dry and mild first fortnight, but rather cool and changeable around the Christmas holiday period.
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during December 2007 in Malaga was 17 Celsius (63F), and that was very close to the average for the month. The average minimum was 11 Celsius (51F), which was around 2 degrees Celsius (3F) above normal.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 22 Celsius (72F) on the 9th, and there were 2 other days with highs over 20 Celsius (68F), both of these occurring during the first week. During the first 11 days of December the maximum temperature was 19 Celsius (66F), or higher, on each day, but after the 11th the highest temperature was only 17 Celsius (63F), on the 15th. After mid month, there were 3 days with highs below 15 Celsius (59F), and on the 17th, although the temperature was close to 14 Celsius (57F) overnight, the temperature during the day (after 1000 hours) failed to rise above 12 Celsius (54F).
There were no outstandingly warm nights during December, although a persistent wind off the sea on the 19th prevented the temperature from falling below 15 Celsius (59F). There were 2 further nights with lows of 14 Celsius (57F) or higher. On 11 nights the minimum temperature was below 10 Celsius (50F), but the low was only under 7 Celsius (45F) on 2 occasions. The lowest temperature occurred just after dawn on the 16th with a value of 5.9 Celsius (42F).
Sea temperatures were around 17 Celsius (63F) at the beginning of the month, slowly falling to 16 Celsius (61F) by mid month, and then down to 15 Celsius (59F) when the wet spell commenced during the third week.
Rain
The first 2 weeks of December were completely dry, but an unsettled spell of weather began on the 16th. Rain was generally light at first, but, unusually, there was no sunshine for 5 days between the 19th and 23rd, and on both the 22nd and 23rd over 16 millimetres (0.6 inches) of rain fell. Heavy rain on the evening of Christmas Eve gave another fall over 10 millimetres (0.4 inches) but after the 26th it was dry for the remainder of the month. To summarise: measurable rain fell on 8 days, and that was 2 more days than normal, and the total for the month was 65 millimetres (2.5 inches) which was only slightly below the long-term average.
Other parts of southern Iberia had considerably more rain, especially during the period 21st to the 24th. To the west of Malaga, some flooding occurred, particularly on the 23rd as a north/south aligned rain band became slow moving between Estepona and Torremolinos. Figures 1 to 6 show the infra-red satellite imagery and corresponding surface analyses during the pre-Christmas wet period. Figure 7 gives a ground impression of Figures 3 and 4; and Table 1. shows daily rainfall at a selection of locations across southern Iberia.
Table 1. Daily rainfall for several locations in southern Iberia. Note the lack of rain in places west of Malaga. The total for the month at Almeria fell on just 1 day, the 37th, when thundery showers occurred.
Radar images (not reproduced) suggested that the area bounded by Ronda, Grazalema and Marbella may have had in excess of 100mm of the rain in the 48 hours up to midnight on the 23rd/24th.
Thunder
The only thunder of the month in west Malaga occurred on the evening of the 24th. This storm appeared to develop west of Nerja and then moved west-southwest before eventually moving out over the sea after midnight. The storm produced 5cm of hail in Torre de Mar and around 10cm of hail at Caleta de Velez, about 30km east of Malaga. The edge of the storm produced over 13mm of rain on the beach in west Malaga. Figure 8 shows the storm as it moved southwest of Malaga.
Figure 8. Lightning around midnight on the 24th/25th as the storm moves away southwest and weakens.
Wind
Winds were mainly gentle, or moderate, northwest overnight and during the mornings, with variable or light southeast winds during the afternoons. However, there were some strong east to southeast winds towards the end of the third week as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9. Fresh or strong east to southeast winds generating large waves west of Malaga on the afternoon of the 19th December. Malaga is in the background partially obscured by Malaga Container port.
The average maximum temperature during December 2007 in Malaga was 17 Celsius (63F), and that was very close to the average for the month. The average minimum was 11 Celsius (51F), which was around 2 degrees Celsius (3F) above normal.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 22 Celsius (72F) on the 9th, and there were 2 other days with highs over 20 Celsius (68F), both of these occurring during the first week. During the first 11 days of December the maximum temperature was 19 Celsius (66F), or higher, on each day, but after the 11th the highest temperature was only 17 Celsius (63F), on the 15th. After mid month, there were 3 days with highs below 15 Celsius (59F), and on the 17th, although the temperature was close to 14 Celsius (57F) overnight, the temperature during the day (after 1000 hours) failed to rise above 12 Celsius (54F).
There were no outstandingly warm nights during December, although a persistent wind off the sea on the 19th prevented the temperature from falling below 15 Celsius (59F). There were 2 further nights with lows of 14 Celsius (57F) or higher. On 11 nights the minimum temperature was below 10 Celsius (50F), but the low was only under 7 Celsius (45F) on 2 occasions. The lowest temperature occurred just after dawn on the 16th with a value of 5.9 Celsius (42F).
Sea temperatures were around 17 Celsius (63F) at the beginning of the month, slowly falling to 16 Celsius (61F) by mid month, and then down to 15 Celsius (59F) when the wet spell commenced during the third week.
Rain
The first 2 weeks of December were completely dry, but an unsettled spell of weather began on the 16th. Rain was generally light at first, but, unusually, there was no sunshine for 5 days between the 19th and 23rd, and on both the 22nd and 23rd over 16 millimetres (0.6 inches) of rain fell. Heavy rain on the evening of Christmas Eve gave another fall over 10 millimetres (0.4 inches) but after the 26th it was dry for the remainder of the month. To summarise: measurable rain fell on 8 days, and that was 2 more days than normal, and the total for the month was 65 millimetres (2.5 inches) which was only slightly below the long-term average.
Other parts of southern Iberia had considerably more rain, especially during the period 21st to the 24th. To the west of Malaga, some flooding occurred, particularly on the 23rd as a north/south aligned rain band became slow moving between Estepona and Torremolinos. Figures 1 to 6 show the infra-red satellite imagery and corresponding surface analyses during the pre-Christmas wet period. Figure 7 gives a ground impression of Figures 3 and 4; and Table 1. shows daily rainfall at a selection of locations across southern Iberia.
 Figure 1. Satellite imagery for 1200 UTC 21st December 2007. Leaden skies prevailed across the whole of southern Spain west of Motril. copyright 2008 EUMETSAT |  Figure 2. Surface analysis 1200 UTC 21st December 2007 Crown copyright www.metoffice.gov.uk |
 Figure 3. Satellite imagery for 1200 UTC 22nd December 2007. Thick cloud, with embedded cumulonimbus clouds, stream east from west of the Gibraltar Straits. copyright 2008 EUMETSAT |  Figure 4. Surface analysis 1200 UTC 22nd December 2007. Although high-level clouds (white on imagery) moved east, the surface flow was slack and the area of ascent ahead of the trough was quasi-stationary. Crown copyright www.metoffice.gov.uk |
 Figure 5. Satellite imagery for 1200 UTC 23rd December 2007. Although thinning of the cloud existed east of Malaga, cloud to the west remained dense with embedded Cb. copyright 2008 EUMETSAT |  Figure 6. Surface analysis 1200 UTC 23rd December 2007. The small trough, just east of Malaga, marks the area most affected by the heavy rain. Crown copyright www.metoffice.gov.uk |
 Figure 7. Early afternoon on the 22nd December 2007. Although no thunder occurred, moderate rain fell continuously. |
| Location | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | Monthly Total |
| Gibraltar | 51 | 60 | 58 | 177 |
| Seville | 10 | Trace | 0.2 | 13 |
| Jerez | 22 | 0.5 | 3 | 34 |
| Moron | 7 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| Malaga Airport | 23 | 39 | 18 | 111 |
| Granada | 2 | 0.4 | Nil | 7 |
| Almeria | Trace | Nil | Nil | 26 |
| Murcia | 2 | Nil | Trace | 8 |
Table 1. Daily rainfall for several locations in southern Iberia. Note the lack of rain in places west of Malaga. The total for the month at Almeria fell on just 1 day, the 37th, when thundery showers occurred.
Radar images (not reproduced) suggested that the area bounded by Ronda, Grazalema and Marbella may have had in excess of 100mm of the rain in the 48 hours up to midnight on the 23rd/24th.
Thunder
The only thunder of the month in west Malaga occurred on the evening of the 24th. This storm appeared to develop west of Nerja and then moved west-southwest before eventually moving out over the sea after midnight. The storm produced 5cm of hail in Torre de Mar and around 10cm of hail at Caleta de Velez, about 30km east of Malaga. The edge of the storm produced over 13mm of rain on the beach in west Malaga. Figure 8 shows the storm as it moved southwest of Malaga.
Figure 8. Lightning around midnight on the 24th/25th as the storm moves away southwest and weakens.
Wind
Winds were mainly gentle, or moderate, northwest overnight and during the mornings, with variable or light southeast winds during the afternoons. However, there were some strong east to southeast winds towards the end of the third week as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9. Fresh or strong east to southeast winds generating large waves west of Malaga on the afternoon of the 19th December. Malaga is in the background partially obscured by Malaga Container port.
