Weather in Malaga – May 2020

The average maximum temperature during May 2020 in Malaga was 24.3 Celsius (76F), and that was 0.5 Celsius (1F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 16.6 Celsius (62F), and that was also 0.5 Celsius (1F) above normal for May.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was  30.9 Celsius (88F) on the 23rd, and 29.6 Celsius (86F) was recorded on the 6th, but there were only 9 other days with highs above 25 Celsius (77F). In total, there were 5 of these warmer days during the first week, and 4 in the last week of May. The coolest weather was around the middle of the month, and all the days with maxima below 22 Celsius (72F), 8 days,  occurred between the 10th and 18th. only 1 day had a maximum temperature below 20 Celsius (68F), that was the 15th with a high of 19.6 Celsius (67F).

There were no exceptionally warm nights during May, but the minimum temperature on the 27th was 19.6 Celsius (67F), and with 19.3 Celsius (67F) recorded on the 5th. A further 8 nights had minimum temperatures above 18 Celsius (64F). The coolest nights occurred close to the middle of the month, and all the nights with minima below 15 Celsius (59F) were located between the 11th and 17th. In fact, there were 7 consecutive cool nights, with the coolest on the 13th. A minimum temperature of 11.9 Celsius (54F) was recorded on that night, although the 15th was only a little less cool at 12.1 Celsius (54F).

The sea temperature, around 16 Celsius (61F) at the beginning of May, rose slowly to 18 Celsius (64F) around mid month. It then rose quite quickly to 20 or 21 Celsius (68-70F) at the end of the third week, and then stayed close to 21 Celsius (70F) for the rest of the month.

There were 32.7 millimetres (1.3 ins.) of rain during May. This was 70%  above the monthly average. Measurable rain fell on 5 days, and that’s 1 above normal. A light shower fell on the afternoon of the 120th, but it only gave 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) of rain. However, on the 12th, there was heavy rain for much of the morning, and this totalled 27.2 millimetres (1.1 ins.). Further, mostly light, rain fell on the evening of the 13th, and showers on the 14th produced another 3.8 millimetres (0.15 ins.). It then stayed dry until the 31st, when dust-laden showers in the afternoon only added 0.8 millimetres (0.03 ins.) to the monthly total, but made cars very dirty.

Thunder

There were 2 days with thunder observed during May.  Thunderstorms occurred on the evening of the 14th, and further thunder was heard on the afternoon of the 31st. There were many lightning strikes across southern Spain and a number of fires were started in the sierras.

The pattern of winds was fairly unusual for May. Although northwesterly land breezes occurred on almost half the days, the southeasterly sea breezes were less frequent than usual. Instead, south to southwesterly winds occurred, these blowing parallel to the shoreline, and often brisk enough to lift the sand at times. Shelter from the southwest wind meant that the anemometer didn’t register the strong gusts,  and the only gust above 20 knots (23 mph) recorded during the month was from the northwest on the 1st when 21 knots (24 mph) was measured.

No fog was observed in west Malaga during May.

Statistics for May 2020

Reporting Station	Highest Temp	Lowest Temp	Rain Total (mm)	Wettest	Rain days
Malaga Airport	32.0	10.6	31	28	5
Malaga Harbour	31.0	13.4	32	29	4
Fuengirola	28.2	13.0	32	26	5
Granada Airport	35.8	7.9	54	34	7
Almeria	36.3*	11.2	2	1	3
Seville	37.5	12.1	55	18	8
Cordoba	38.0	9.4	19	8	7
Jerez de la Frontera	36.9	10.6	69	39	10
Murcia	34.2	11.2	25	18	4