Finland sees colder March than usual

March was colder than usual in most parts of the country, while in the southern part of the country the average temperature was close to the long-term average, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

In Lapland, the average temperature for March was approximately 3–5 degrees below the average for the 1991–2020 reference period, said FMI in a press release.

March was exceptionally cold in particular in Northern Lapland. The temperature was about 1-2 degrees lower than normal in the central part of the country and in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu.

The highest temperature for the month was 10.2 degrees Celsius, recorded on 23 March in Jomala.

The lowest temperature, in turn, was minus 37.5 degrees Celsius, recorded at Kittilä airport on 24 March.

At the same time, this was the lowest temperature during this half of winter, and the latest time for lowest temperature for this half of winter in statistics from 1959 onwards.

In the southern and central parts of the country, March was exceptionally rainy in many places, and station-specific precipitation records for March were broken at many of the FMI’s observation stations.

Precipitation was mainly typical in the country’s northern parts, but there were also observation stations in Kainuu, Central and Northern Lapland that recorded more precipitation than usual.

The greatest amount of precipitation for all of March was 100.1 millimetres recorded at the Huhtilampi observation station in Joensuu.

The lowest amount of precipitation for the entire month, 15.2 mm, was recorded at the Kevo observation station in Utsjoki. The greatest amount of precipitation in a single day, 21.6 millimetres, was recorded at the Mujejärvi observation station in Nurmes on 18 March.

In the northern part of the country, there were more hours of sunshine than usual, and in Northern Lapland there was an exceptional amount of sunshine.

The last time it was this sunny in Northern Lapland was in March 2001. The southern and central parts of the country had slightly less sunshine than the average for the 1991-2020 reference period.

At the end of March, almost the entire country had snow, only the Parainen Utö observation station did not. The location with the greatest amount of snow was Kainuu, where its depth was more than 120 centimetres in places.

There was an exceptional amount of snow in Kainuu, the northern parts of North Savo and in Lapland’s Kaaresuvanto for this time of year. Generally, there was somewhat more snow throughout the country than usual, while in the south the snow depth was close to normal.