Finland’s weather seesaws through April, with coldest temperature posted in Lapland
April in Finland saw topsy-turvy weather that fluctuated between unusually warm and and unusually cold before ending on more typical temperatures by the end of the month.
“April started exceptionally warm in the south,” Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) said in their monthly weather report on Thursday.
“However, after the middle of the month, most of the country experienced an exceptionally cold period for the time, when, with the exception of the southern coast, the temperatures remained below freezing even during the day.”
The country’s highest temperature of 20.8 C was recorded in Hyvinkää, a town in southern Finland, on April 29.
Lapland posted the country’s coldest temperature of -34.3 C on April 3 in Savukoski in the eastern part of the region.
Overall for the country, the average temperature ranged from approximately 3 C along the south coast to about -6 C in Lapland.
Lapland rainfall exception
Lapland’s average April rainfall typically ranges from 15mm to 25mm.
In April 2024, precipitation in the region amounted to 20mm, in contrast to the 20-40mm range observed elsewhere.
“The amount of precipitation in April was higher than usual in most parts of the country,” the FMI said.
“In the southern and central parts of the country, as well as in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, the rainfall was exceptionally high in some places, station-specific April rainfall records were also broken in the east.”
The lowest amount of rainfall recorded was 16mm in the village of Kilpisjärvi in western Lapland.
Snow depths in the region ranged from 30 to 80 cm, with Kittilä in the western part of the region, recoding the highest depth of the month at 105 cm.
Sun plays hide and seek in April
Sunlight hours in April were notably below average, with the deficit ranging from 50 to 100 hours less than is typical.
In some places in eastern Finland, only 80 hours of sunlight were recorded.
The most sunlight hours were recorded in Korsnäs in the southwest of the country were 167 hours of sunlight were recorded.
Comments, tips or story ideas? Contact Eilís at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Be wary of thin ice amid mild weather conditions, says hunter in Fort Smith, N.W.T., CBC News
Finland: Military exercise apparently disrupts weather images from Lapland, Yle News
United States: Arctic weather satellite leaving Europe for June launch in U.S., Eye on the Arctic
