Frost in the Balearics

There were record numbers of days with frost in January. | German G. Lama

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma03/02/2022 11:50
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January in the Balearics was 0.7 degrees colder than usual. The Aemet met agency's January report points to an average temperature of 9.6C, with the lowest average - 9.4C - having been in Mallorca. This was 0.6 degrees lower than usual, which wasn't as great as in Minorca, where an average 9.7C was one whole degree colder. Ibiza was 9.7C and 0.8 lower, while Formentera was only 0.1 down at 11.6C.

At the Campos Can Sión weather station, the average temperature for the month was 7.9C, the second coldest January since 1991, which is when records started for this station. In 2005 it was 7.6C. In Minorca, a 9.9C average in Ciutadella was the second coldest on record after 9.5C in January 2000.

The average minimum temperatures were between 1.5C and 2C lower than normal. At some weather stations, they were even lower. The airport in Minorca registered an average minimum temperature of 5C, when the normal is 7.5C.

For each island, the lowest temperatures were -5.3C in Escorca Son Torrella on January 19; -2C in Sant Joan de Labritja (Ibiza) on the 7th; -0.6C in Cala Galdana (Minorca) on the 17th; and +1.3 °C in Formentera on the 7th.

At Campos Can Sión and Escorca Son Torrella, there were 18 days of frost. Usually, there would be five and ten days respectively. At Palma Son Sant Joan Airport, there were eleven days of frost; five are normal. In Campos and since records started in 1991, there have never been so many days of frost in one month.

January was particularly dry. For the whole of the Balearics, the average was 16.5 litres per square metre by contrast with a normal 50.2. In Mallorca, where 52.8 is normal, the average rainfall was 16.2 litres per square metre. The driest island was Formentera, where the average was 14.9 compared with a usual 27.9.

The heaviest daily rainfalls by island were 36.0 litres per square metre in Escorca Son Torrella on the 5th; 29.8 in Ibiza on the 21st; 12.4 in Ciutadella on the 5th; and 11.5 in Formentera on the 20th.

There were two days of snow in Mallorca, a normal number of days. These were January 5 and 21. In the latter case, snow didn't settle. There were also eleven days of mist in Mallorca, more than for the other islands.