2010 a Year of Extremes for Finland

Statistics provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institute have shed light on the extremes that made 2010 a year to remember in Finland. Cold periods at the start and end of the year meant that the year was slightly cooler than the average over the past decade, and the extreme weather events, cold winter, new temperature records, and storms in summer only go to show that our planets weather is not a predictable beast.

According to the statistics provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institute the mean annual temperature for the whole of Finland in 2010 was 1.3° C, a whole 0.6 degrees below the long-term average, with temperatures ranging from 5° C in Southwest Finland to about –3° C in Northern Lapland.

Cold Winter

2010 started off in the midst of a freezing winter, a winter which was the coldest since the winter of 1986-87, with a mean temperature that was 3 to 5 degrees lower than the average for the years 1971 to 2000 (–12° C, while the long-term average is –8.9° C).

The coldest temperature recorded in the country for the year was –41.3° C, measured in Kalliojoki, Kuhmo on 20 February, the first time the weather dropped below –40° C since February 2007. And the whole of the country saw a lot more snow than normal, seeing as the temperatures forced the majority of the rain to fall as snow. The last time there had been this much snow was the winter of 1969-70.

Hot Summer

Spring saw an unusually high temperature rate for the period between March and May, with the mean temperature for the whole country coming in at 1.7° C, which is 0.9 degrees higher than the average.

Mid-May saw one of the hottest spells in Finnish meteorological history, with Utti, Kouvola, measuring eight days over 25° C, the greatest number of hot days recorded at any observation station in May.

Summer saw the temperatures increase, with a mean temperature of 14.9° C, which is 1.2 degrees higher than the average for the years 1971–2000.

A new record was broken as well, with the highest temperature recorded at Joensuu Airport in Liperi on 29 July, with 37.2° C breaking the previous record of 35.9° C, which had been measured in Turku in 1914

Storms

The warm weather came hand in hand with increased storm activity, which saw major forest damage take place. The worst of the storms were Asta (29 July), Veera (4 August), Lahja (7 August) and Sylvi (8 August).

The number of ground flashes registered throughout the entirety of the country was approximately 170,000, which is around about 30,000 more than the long-term average.

Source: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Image Source: Scott_J_

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