The Maltese warmth and tears of pride

I’m currently sitting in a room that’s 28 degrees Celsius, somewhere near Budapest. On the upper floor of our family house, it might be 32 degrees, at least according to my ‘sleep monitor’.

Everyone warned me beforehand that the summer in Malta would be terribly hot.

It’s interesting how people adjust their expectations and attitudes based on what they hear in advance.

If you keep hearing from everywhere that “this is the best movie in the world,” you usually come out of the cinema disappointed, don’t you?

During the first three weeks (until the end of May), it was 25 degrees during the day, and sometimes even a long pants and sweater were insufficient in the evening. This surprised me and indicated a truly hot summer ahead.

Because if it’s good now, it’s going to be very bad later, right?

So, what’s the weather like in Malta now?

The situation is multifaceted and incomparable with Hungary/continental climate because:

• the climate is Mediterranean with mild winters and hot, dry summers
• the sun shines for 300 days a year
• there are very few trees, and you can’t escape to forests
• shade is only found due to buildings
• UV radiation is much stronger than in Central-Eastern Europe
• stones, rocks, houses, and asphalt radiate heat even at night
• the air is dry, but sometimes interrupted by hot, humid air currents from the Sahara

However:

• the constant proximity to the sea and even just seeing it phrovides a completely different heat comfort
• if you spend most of your day indoors, it’s usually in an air-conditioned place

So, in summary:

• heat: a lot in summer (35-38 degrees Celsius, 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit), bearable from autumn to spring
• humidity: low, sometimes with hot, humid air currents from the Sahara
• precipitation: little, but I experienced a few days of drizzle in mid-May
• breeze: yes, it’s regular, sometimes stormy

In Hungary, the past few weeks have also been very hot, on average 4-5 Celsius degrees hotter than in Malta. However, at home, it’s unbearable, while outside, because it’s expected and anticipated, you somehow experience it differently. Not better or worse, just differently. Of course, the sea really helps a lot.

And speaking of deviant weather conditions. I’ve often experienced, mostly during rowing competitions, that when a lot of people are going through something that requires a lot of physical and emotional energy, a sudden big storm hits for a short time.

Usually, the intensity of the phenomenon increases with the level of excitement and then dissipates afterwards.

Coincidence? Hardly.