Dry, but often cool and rather cloudy. Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during December 2008 in Malaga was 15.8 Celsius (61F), and that was well over 1 Celsius (1.8F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum was 9.0 Celsius (48F), nearly a degree Celsius (1.8F) above normal.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 20.2 Celsius (68F) on the 6th. On either side of this date the maximum temperature was above 19 Celsius (66F), the only significantly mild days during the whole month. On the first 4 days of the month the temperature failed to reach 15 Celsius (59F), and, remarkably, there were11 other days with maxima below 15 Celsius. The coolest period was around the middle of the month, and the highest temperature on the 15th was only 11.6 Celsius (54F).
There were some mild nights towards the end of the first week, and again during the last week of December. A total of 10 nights had minima above 10 Celsius (50F), with lows on 3 of those nights above 13 Celsius (55F). The mildest nights neatly dove-tailed with the warmest days, and on the night of the 5th/6th the minimum temperature was only 14.8 Celsius (59F). There were 5 nights when the temperature fell below 6 Celsius (43F), with the lowest value, 5.3 Celsius (41F), occurring on 3 nights; the 20th/21st, the 21st/22nd and the 26th/27th.
Sea temperatures were below normal for the time of year, with 15 Celsius (59F) early in the month, and typically 14 Celsius (57F) during the last fortnight of December.
Rain
After the very wet Autumn, this December was drier than average, with the total of 23 millimetres (0.9 inches) representing a monthly deficit of nearly 70%. Fortunately, measurable rain fell on 9 days, 3 above average, and the regular rainfall helped to maintain the green landscape. Heavy rain only fell on 2 days, and then it was short-lived. On the 13th, 8.1 millimetres (0.3 inches) of rain fell, and on the 28th nearly 7millimetres were recorded, the only 2 days with totals exceeding 2 millimetres.
Rainfall across southern Spain was very variable during December. The table below shows the total rainfall for the month, and as a percentage of the long-term average; and also the number of days with rain falling, plus the average.
Reporting Station
Total in mm.
as a %
Rain Days (Av.)
Malaga Airport
54
61
7 (6)
Granada Airport
64
120
10 (7)
Almeria
29
126
4 (3)
Seville
35
37
9 (8)
Cordoba
41
46
9 (8)
Jerez de la Frontera
44
40
14 (9)
Murcia
6
29
4 (4)
Thunder
Thunder was less frequent than usual during December with no reports from Malaga, but Jerez had a thunderstorm on the 2nd, and there were storms in Almeria on both the 9th and 15th.
Wind
There was a predominance of moderate northwesterly winds during December, although southeasterlies were dominant during the last 10 days. The 28th was windy, especially during the morning, when the southeasterly breeze gusted to 37 knots (42mph).
