Changeable, but with only small amounts of rain on the coast. Temperatures above normal.
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during May 2008 in Malaga was 24 Celsius (75F), and that was about 0.5 Celsius (1 F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum was 16 Celsius (61F), almost 2 Celsius (3.5F.) above normal.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 28.6 Celsius (84F) on the 22nd, with a maximum of 28.0 Celsius (83F) on the 23rd. There were only 2 other days when the temperature exceeded 25 Celsius (77F) with these occurring either side of the 2 very wam days. There were 3 days when the daily maximum remained below 21 Celsius (70F), the 1st,8th and 25th. On the 1st, the temperature only reached 20.1 Celsius.
There were several warm nights during May, and on the night of the 23rd the minimum temperature was above 20 Celsius (68F). There were 3 other nights when minima exceeded 18 Celsius (64F), with all of these occurring during the second half of May. There was a paucity of cool nights, with only 2 nights below the long-term average of 14 celsius (57F); namely the 10th, and the early morning of the26th when the temperature fell to 13.5 Celsius (56F).
Sea temperatures were a little under 19 Celsius (66F) early in May, rising to close on 20 Celsius (68F) by the end of the month.
Rain
There were just under 8 millimetres (0.3 inches) of rain during May, and that was under 30% of the long-term average for the month. Rain fell on 6 days during the month, and that's twice the average. Perhaps surprisingly, it was an unsettled month, although a combination of wind directions and the topography of southern Spain helped to deprive the Costa del Sol of the heavy showers that affected the Iberian Peninsular for much of the month. More than 1 millimetre (0.04 inches) of rain fell of each day from the 8th to the 10th, but the wettest day was the 28th when over 3 millimetres was measured.
The showery nature of the weather led to a whole range of daily rainfall readings across southern Spain, although totals, shown below, were generally well above average.
Reporting Station
Total in mm.
as a %
Rain Days (Av.)
Malaga Airport
11
44
10 (3)
Granada Airport
52
208
11 (4)
Almeria
31
221
4 (2)
Seville
34
100
10 (4)
Cordoba
54
159
16 (5)
Jerez de la Frontera
28
76
10 (4)
Murcia
75
234
7 (4)
Thunder
Thunder occurred in Many parts of southern Spain in association with heavy showers, but none was heard in west Malaga.
Wind
The wind element of the weather station has corroded so readings for west Malaga are unavailable. However, the month was characterised by gentle or moderate northwest winds until late morning, followed by a fresh or strong south-southwesterly sea breeze during the afternoon, followed, in turn, by a moderate northwest wind during the evening. This was unusual both for the direction and strength of the sea breeze. Normally it is a gentle or moderate southeasterly wind. Interesting temperatures occurred with 3 pm temperatures often 5 or 6 Celsius cooler than at midday, and with the highest values of the day occurring at 7 or 8 in the evening.
