WITH the end of October just around the corner, the automatic weather stations at Son Sant Joan (outside Palma), sa Canova (Sa Pobla) and Ibiza are registering record average temperatures for the month. The meteorological equipment is showing that October this year is experiencing temperatures more than two degrees Celsius above the average expected for the season. Results confirm 20.9 degrees Celsius at Son Sant Joan; 21.2 at sa Pobla, and 22.2 in Ibiza. Agustí Jansà, head of the Balearic Meteorological Centre, said at the end of last week that the month still hasn't drawn to a close and it's forecast that the temperature will drop slightly within the next few days. However, 2006 has witnessed the hottest October on record, or at least one of them.
To highlight some further evidence, one only has to take note of the fact that the highest temperature this month was recorded as being 33.2 degrees Celsius on October 3 at the lighthouse at Capdepera. The same day at Son Sant Joan outside Palma, a maximum of 30.9 degrees was registered. At Sa Pobla on October 2, temperatures soared to 32.3 degrees. All of these figures are much more appropriate for the summer months. However, these figures in themselves are not the highest ever recorded for the month of October. Indeed it was at sa Pobla in October 2004 when a record of 33.5ºC was reached. The same year, Son Sant Joan was not far behind the lead with 33.2 degrees showing on the thermometer. Seen in perspective however, it's worth bearing in mind that after the intense heat of the beginning of October, there was intense rainfall which took the majority of Majorca by surprise. Estellencs was deluged with 20 litres per square metre and left with a layer of frozen hail measuring 10 centimetres deep. Rain and hail also fell on a number of areas of Palma (particularly in Establiments), and in Galilea, Banyalbufar and Pollensa.
The storm brought its own highly charged electric activity. On 12 October, a national holiday, further heavy rain fell, reaching as much as 150 litres per square metre in Lluc within the space of 24 hours; 120 in Orient; 117 in the Port of Pollensa; 111 in Deya; 90 in Soller, and 62 in Bunyola.
This October is the hottest ever in Palma and Sa Pobla