Record June temperatures and heavy rainfall in northern Finland
Finland’s North experienced record-breaking temperatures and more rainfall than usual this June, significant changes from past weather patterns, the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), said.
“The greatest deviations were observed in Lapland, where the highest ever average June temperatures were observed at several stations with up to a 4 C difference compared to the average of the 1991–2020 reference period,” the institute said in a statement this week.
Overall, northern Finland’s average temperature varied between 11C and 16 C. In other areas of the country, the variation was 14.5–18 C.
At the start of June, Finland experienced widespread heat, with temperatures hitting at least 25.1°C in many places.
Increase in number of hot days
Finns got a brief break from the heat in the middle of June before getting hit by another long heatwave at the end of the month.
Usually, there are about eight hot days in June, but this year, there were 14 days with temperatures over 25.1 C. On four of those days, it topped 30 degrees.
Savilahti, a district near the eastern city of Kuopio, recorded the hottest day in June, reaching a high of 31.4C along with Asemantaus in Heinola, situated in the southern part of the country, on the 28th.
On the flip side, the coldest temperature was -0.7 C at Ylivieska Airport in the western part of the country on the 5th, making it the coldest June temperature in Finland since 1961.
Heavy precipitation in North
In addition to high temperatures, several regions of Finland also got walloped by rain in June.
The western and northern regions saw unusually high amounts of rain, while the southern coast had less rain than usual. There were more rainy days than normal in the north and west.
The rainiest place was Tulkkila in Kokemäki, in western Finland, with 135.9 mm of rain.
On the other hand, the driest spot was the Kaisaniemi observation station in Helsinki, which only got 24.4 mm.
The most rain in a single day happened at the Teeriranta observation station in Kuusamo, in the northeastern part of the country, with 59 mm on June 18.
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: Finland’s weather seesaws through April, with coldest temperature posted in Lapland, Eye on the Arctic
Russia: The fastest warming of the Russian Arctic was detected in spring, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Hot days in Sweden extending further north, Radio Sweden
United States: Arctic weather satellite leaving Europe for June launch in U.S., Eye on the Arctic
