Changeable. Notable for strong winds during the second week and exceptionally heavy rain at the end of the month. Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during October 2008 in Malaga was 22.8 Celsius (73F), and that was close to normal for the time of year. The average minimum was 16.7 Celsius (62F), a value around 2 Celsius (3.6F.) above normal.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was only 28.0 Celsius (82F). This occurred on the 3rd, but there were only 2 other days, the 7th and 17th, when the temperature rose above 25 Celsius (77F). During the last 10 days of the month there were 4 occasions when the temperature failed to reach 20 Celsius (68F). The last day of the month was exceptionally cool with a maximum temperature of only 15.8 Celsius (60F).
There were 6 nights when the temperature stayed above 19 Celsius (66F), with all of these occasions occurring during the first 3 weeks. The minimum on the night of the 17th/18th was 20.2 Celsius (68F), but the warmest night was the 10th/11th with a low of 21.0 Celsius (70F). The minimum temperature was below 16 Celsius (61F) on 8 nights, with 4 of these occurring during the first week of October. The last 3 nights of the month were cool with minima of 10.6 Celsius (51F) and 7.9 Celsius (46F) on the nights of the 29th and 30th respectively.
Sea temperatures were mainly around 20 or 21 Celsius (68-70F) early in the month, briefly rising to 22 Celsius (72F) around the middle of the second week, before falling to 19 or 20 Celsius after mid month. The deluge on the 31st lowered the sea temperature to an unusually cool 17 Celsius (63F).
Rain
This was a very wet October with over 147 millimetres (5.8 ins) of rain falling. A figure that is well over twice the monthly average. Measurable rain fell on 12 days, around 3 times the normal for October. The first rain fell during an unsettled spell that commenced at the beginning of the second week. Rain fell on 4 days during the week giving a total of more than 12 millimetres (0.5 ins). Further rain fell on the 14th, and from the 19th there were 7 days with rain. By far the wettest day of the month was the 31st when 109.5 millimetres (4.3 ins) was recorded. Most of the rain fell between 0600 and 2000 hours when rainfall rates briefly reached 50 millimetres per hour. A similar amount of rain fell at Malaga Airport making it the wettest October day for at least 65 years. The 31st became a wet day across much of Andalucia but the heaviest rain was mainly close to the coast between Malaga and Cadiz.
The table below shows the total rainfall for the month, and as percentage of the long-term average; and the number of days with rain falling, plus the average.
Reporting Station
Total in mm.
as a %
Rain Days (Av.)
Malaga Airport
133
237
10 (4)
Granada Airport
47
112
9 (5)
Almeria
28
100
6 (3)
Seville
N/a
N/a
N/a
Cordoba
38
61
9 (6)
Jerez de la Frontera
160
239
13 (6)
Murcia
53
120
9 (4)
Thunder
Thunder was reported on 2 days in west Malaga during October. There were storms in the late evening on the 10th, these running on into the 11th to the west of Estepona and then lasting for the rest of the day. Thunderstorms developed before dawn on the 14th and lasted through much of the morning. The heavy rain on the 31st appeared to be free of thunder although lightning detectors hinted at storms to the southwest of Cadiz.
