Weather in Malaga – January 2018

The average maximum temperature during January 2018 in Malaga was 16.8 Celsius (62F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (<0.2F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 9.6 Celsius (50F), and that was 0.3 Celsius (0.5F) above normal for January.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was  22.4 Celsius (72F) on the 21st, but there were 5 other days when the temperature rose above 20 Celsius (68F). A mild start to the year saw 3 out of the first 4 days having maxima above 20 Celsius (68F), and 3 consecutive days, beginning on the 20th, also had highs in excess of 20 Celsius (68F). On many days (9) the temperature rose to between 17 and 20 Celsius (63-68F), but there were also several cool days. On 8 days the temperature failed to rise above 15 Celsius (59F), and they included 3 days during the first fortnight with maxima below 12 Celsius (54F). The coolest day was the 8th when the temperature only reached 9.8 Celsius (50F).

Many of the  mildest nights in January occurred at the beginning of the month, with 4 out of the first 5 nights having minimum temperatures above 12 Celsius (54F). These included a low of 13.9 Celsius (57F) on the night of the 3rd/4th. There were 2 other nights when the temperature stayed above 12 Celsius (54F). These occurred at the beginning of the fourth week, with the mildest night of the month occurring on the 20th/21st. The minimum on this night was 14.1 Celsius (57F). There were several cool nights during January, and 9 nights had minima below 8 Celsius (46F). All of these cooler nights occurred before the 19th, and most of them were confined to the second week of January. On 3 nights, the 8th/9th, 12th/13th and 15th/16th, temperatures fell below 6 Celsius (43F). The coolest night was the 15th/16th with a low of 5.1 Celsius (41F).

The sea temperature was around 15 Celsius (59F) throughout the month.

There were 42.4 millimetres (1.7 ins.) of rain during January. This was about 25% below the monthly average. Rain fell on 10 days, and that was 3 days above the January normal. the first rain of the year fell on the 6th. Heavy rain in the morning totalled 11.7 millimetres (0.5 ins) with further showery rain falling on the afternoon of the following day. Outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, occurred on the 8th, mainly during the morning. It was the wettest day of the m onth with 19.8 millimetres (0.8 ins.) recorded. Rain also occurred late on the 9th and during the early hours of the 10th, but much of this rain was light. Over 2 millimetres (0.1 ins.) of rain fell on the afternoon of the 14th, but it then stayed dry until the 24th. Sea mist was wet enough to produce measurable rain on the 24th, with light rain producing o.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) again on the evening of the 25th. A similar amount was measured late on the 27th, with patchy rain on the 28th giving another 4.8 millimetres (0.2 ins.)

Thunder was widespread along the Costa del Sol, including Malaga, on the morning of the 8th.

The wind  through January was mainly from the northwest with only limited afternoon sea breeze formation. The breeze was often quite strong, with gusts exceeding 20 knots (23 mph) on 8 out of the first 11 days of the month. Gusts were also above 20 knots (23 mph) between the 20th and 22nd, with further gusty winds occurring during the last week of the month. On the 28th a remarkable levant wind developed. On the morning of the 28th, a typical west-northwesterly breeze was blowing with speeds of 10 to 15 knots (11-17 mph). During the early afternoon the west-northwesterly breeze decreased to 5 to 10 knots (6-11 mph) but the sea became rough.. At 1330, the wind abruptly swung easterly and increased to 10 to 15 knots (11-17 mph). The easterly wind dramatically increased from 16 knots (18 mph) at 1425, to a gale force 34 knots at 1430 to a severe gale force 40 knots at 1435.  Gale or severe gale continued until 1635 with a gust of 51 knots (58 mph) recorded. This was the second highest gust recorded since records began in 2005, the highest being 57 knots (65 mph) measured in November 2010. The wind stayed strong through the evening, before moderating around 2140. Remarkably, at 2225 the wind fell flat calm, and by 2250 a gentle land breeze (west-northwesterly) began to blow. However, this was not the end of it. At 0250 on the 29th the land breeze died away and at 0255 a 15 to 20 knot (17-22 mph) east-southeasterly breeze began to blow. This wind increased through the following hour to strong to gale force 30 to 35 knots (34-40 mph), and blew unabated for the following 24 hours, before dying away as suddenly as it arrived.

There was fog during the evening of the 23rd and the morning of the 24th was very misty. There was also misty low cloud on the following morning.

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	22.6	3.3	45	22	7
Granada Airport	21.1	-2.3	24	13	9
Almeria	20.5	5.2	7	3	5
Seville	19.8	2.9	70	23	9
Cordoba	21.6	-0.4	46	17	10
Jerez de la Frontera	20.2	0.6	44	21	10
Murcia	26.0	0.7	56	39	7

Climatology for January

Reporting Station	Extreme High Temp	Extreme Low Temp	Average Rain (mm)	Extreme Wettest day (mm)	Average Rain days
Malaga Airport	26.8	-2.6	81	121	6
Granada Airport	24.6	-14.2	41	36	6
Almeria	24.4	1.9	23	59	3
Seville	24.2	-4.4	65	66	5
Cordoba	22.9	-8.4	64	79	7
Jerez de la Frontera	25.3	-5.4	89	112	7
Murcia	25.8	-7.5	25	76	3