Country sees unusually warm August

August was at least unusually warm in almost the whole country, and even exceptionally warm in the area ranging from Uusimaa to eastern Lapland, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Station-specific records were broken or equalled at 18 observation stations that have been measuring the temperature for at least 30 years. For example, August was the warmest in the 114 years of recorded history in Heinola and the 96 years of recorded history in Tohmajärvi.

The average temperature of the month varied from slightly over 19 degrees Celsius on the southern coast to about 12 degrees in the northwest of Finnish Lapland.

The greatest deviation from the average for the statistical reference period 1991–2020 was in the southeast where temperatures were about three degrees above the average.

Hot temperatures were measured somewhere in Finland on a total of 19 days, which is more than double the average for August in the reference period 1991–2020. Such many hot days in August were last recorded in 2006, when their number totalled as many as 27.

The Hirvivaara observation station in Mäntsälä and Asemantaus in Heinola had the greatest number of hot days; 17 at both stations.

The highest temperature of the month, 31.7 degrees Celsius , was recorded on 16 August at the observation station at Pori railway station. The lowest temperature in August this year, minus 2.9 degrees, was recorded at Ylivieska airport on the 31 August.

Precipitation in August varied considerably within Finland. In the southern and eastern parts of the country, the precipitation levels in August were unusually low in many areas.

When compared with the usual precipitation levels, the driest place was Helsinki-Vantaa airport, where August saw the least precipitation in the recorded history of the observation station. Areas near the western coast, on the other hand, saw unusually or exceptionally high levels of precipitation. For example, in Teuva, August was the rainiest in the 108-year history of the station.

According to preliminary results, the Kärjenkoski observation station in Isojoki had the most precipitation for the month, 210.4 millimetres.

The least precipitation was recorded at Helsinki-Vantaa airport, only 5.9 millilitres. The greatest amount of precipitation in a single day (from 9:00 am until 9:00 the following morning) was on 5 August: 90.9 millimetres, measured at Seinäjoki Pelmaa observation station.