Stormy end to a Warm month
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during October 2024 in Malaga was 24.1 Celsius (75F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (<0.2F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 17.7 Celsius (64F), and that was 0.8 Celsius (1.5F) above average for October.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 32.9 Celsius (91F) on the 2nd. This was the first of 4 consecutive days with maxima over 30 Celsius (86F). Highs on the 3rd, 4th and 5th, were 31.8, 31.1 and 30.8 Celsius (87-89F) respectively. It was only the second time this year that 4 consecutive days had maxima above 30 Celsius (86F). The other occasion was in early August. The next highest temperature was 28.6 Celsius (85F) on the 6th, and there were only 3 other days when the temperature rose above 25 Celsius (77F). The last of these warmer days was the 19th, when 25.7 Celsius (78F) was recorded. On most other days (16), the maximum ranged from 21 to 25 Celsius (70-77F), but there were 7 exceptions. The 15th and 16th had highs of 20.8 and 20.6 (69F) respectively, but the coolest days were during the last week of the month. On 5 consecutive days, beginning on the 26th, the temperature remained below 21 Celsius (70F), and on 3 of those days, the 28th, 29th and 30th, the maxima were below 19 Celsius (66F). The coolest of these days was the 29th, when 18.1 Celsius (64F) was recorded.
The last of the warm and humid nights occurred during the first week of October, and the minimum of 24.1 Celsius (75F) on the 3rd was a new record high for the month with records dating back to 2005. There were 3 other nights with minima above 20 Celsius (68F). On the 4th, 5th and 6th, there were lows of 22.3, 20.4 and 20.2 Celsius (68-72F) respectively. On most other nights (19) the minimum temperature ranged from 17 to 20 Celsius (63-68F), with all the cooler nights (8) occurring after mid month. Only 4 nights had lows under 15 Celsius (59F). The 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th had minima of 12.7, 12.4, 13.5 and 13.9 Celsius (54-57F) respectively.
The sea temperature was around 22 or 23 Celsius (72-73F) until the end of the first week of October, but for the remainder of the month it ranged between 17 and 19 Celsius (63-66F).
Rain
There were 85.0 millimetres (3.3 ins.) of rain during October. This was 78% above the long-term average, and was the wettest October for 6 years. Measurable rain fell on 13 days, and that was 9 days above average for the time of year. Moreover, this month experienced the highest number of rain days of any October since records began in 2005. The first 6 days of the month were dry, but showers during the evening of the 7th gave 0.4 millimetres (0.02 ins.). Rain occurred in the middle of the day on the 11th and amounted to 2.2 millimetres (0.09 ins.). Heavier rain on the morning of the 13th, produced 7.4 millimetres (0.29 ins.), and changeable weather continued for a further 4 days. On 2 of these days, rainfall was less than 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.), but 3.2 and 5.4 millimetres (0.13 and 0.21 ins.) fell on the 14th and 16th respectively. It then stayed dry until the 26th. Showery rain on the evening of the 26th gave 5.6 millimetres (0.22 ins.), and lighter rain after midnight added another 0.2 millimetres (0.01 in.) to the total. On the 28th, heavy bursts of rain occurred in the early hours, with lighter showers during the day. In the evening, a few very heavy bursts of rain occurred resulting in a total for the day of 16.6 millimetres (0.65 ins.). Torrential rain occurred in the early hours of the 29th, with patchy light rain continuing from mid morning until early afternoon. The total for the day was 34.6 millimetres (1.36 ins.). Overnight rain, and patchy rain in the afternoon of the 30th, totalled 7.2 millimetres (0.28 ins.) for the day, with light rain early on the 31st giving 1.2 millimetres (0.05 ins.) to finish the month.
Thunder
Thunder was heard on 3 days during October. Lightning and just 1 rumble of thunder occurred late in the evening on the 14th, but the thunderstorms on the 28th and 29th were remarkable for their persistence. The first lightning was observed just after midnight on the 28th, with thunder an hour later. Thunder then continued, with breaks seldom lasting more than 15 minutes, until just before dawn. Most of the lightning was cloud to cloud. High-level thunderstorms resumed late in the evening on the 28th and then continued, with only limited breaks, until mid afternoon on the 29th. The intense lightning and thunder was mainly observed towards the northwest, still with much of the lightning occurring from cloud to cloud.
Wind
The usual mid autumn transition from dominant sea breezes to dominant land breezes occurred during October, with predominantly NW land breezes occurring on 21 days. The northwesterlies were occasionally quite brisk, and on 7 days, there were gusts above 20 knots. On the 18th, 27th and 29th gusts of 25 knots (29 mph) were recorded, but the highest gust, 37 knots (42 mph), in fact the highest October gust in 19 years of records, occurred early on the 30th, when a gentle northwesterly breeze was replaced by a powerful east-southeasterly wind.
Fog
Sea fog occurred for 2 or 3 hours around the middle of the day on the 5th.
Statistics for October 2024
| Reporting Station | Highest Temp | Lowest Temp | Rain Total (mm) | Wettest | Rain days |
| Malaga Airport | 35.0 | 11.9 | 103 | 38 | 11 |
| Malaga Harbour | 32.6 | 12.6 | 82 | 40 | 12 |
| Fuengirola | * | * | 94 | 17 | 12 |
| Granada Airport | 32.2 | 3.3 | 63 | 12 | 11 |
| Almeria | 28.5 | 11.1 | 19 | 12 | 4 |
| Seville | 31.6 | 8.7 | 127 | 22 | 15 |
| Cordoba | 31.3 | 7.2 | 100 | 15 | 15 |
| Jerez de la Frontera | 30.6 | 8.3 | 148 | 53 | 15 |
| Murcia | 35.5 | 10.8 | 37 | 23 | 6 |
- Climatology for October
| Reporting Station | Extreme High Temp | Extreme Low Temp | Average Rain (mm) | Extreme Wettest day (mm) | Average Rain days |
| Malaga Airport | 36.4 | 5.6 | 56 | 109 | 4 |
| Granada Airport | 35.4 | -2.6 | 42 | 53 | 5 |
| Almeria | 34.5 | 7.6 | 23 | 56 | 3 |
| Seville | 37.4 | 2.0 | 62 | 93 | 6 |
| Cordoba | 37.6 | 1.0 | 62 | 91 | 6 |
| Jerez de la Frontera | 36.5 | 2.8 | 67 | 97 | 6 |
| Murcia | 36.1 | 1.0 | 44 | 136 | 4 |