Finland sees unusual rain in July

The rainfall in July was higher than usual in the southern and central parts of the country, with unusually or even exceptionally high readings at many observation stations, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

In Lapland, precipitation levels were slightly below the long-term average. In the eastern parts of Finland, the unusually and exceptionally heavy rainfall was spread out more evenly over July, said the FMI in a press release on Wednesday.

In Jyväskylä and Multia, the rainfall that topped July records at observation stations came mostly around 28 and 29 July, bringing more than 100 millimetres of rain within 1 to 2 days.

Precipitation was highest during this month at the observation station in Pirttiperä, Multia at 210.1 mm. The lowest levels of precipitation were recorded in Fagerholm, Parainen at 24.3 mm.

The greatest amount of precipitation observed in a single day was 103.3 mm measured in Pirttiperä, Multia on 28 of July.

The single-day rainfall in Pirttiperä is the 30th largest amount of measured daily rainfall in Finland’s measurement history at any observation station.

On the southern coast of the country and in the southwestern archipelago, July was normal or more abundant in terms of sunshine. In other parts of Finland, the number of hours of sunshine was lower than the long-term average at many stations.

Just over 15,600 cloud-to-ground lighting discharges were observed in July, which is about one quarter of the monthly average.

According to the FMI, July was normal with regard to average temperatures in most parts of the country, and eastern Finland was also slightly colder than usual in many places.

The average monthly temperature in Lapland was about between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius, while in other parts of the country the range was around 14 to 17 degrees Celsius.

The deviation of the average temperature was largely 0 to minus 1 degrees, while in the east the deviation was minus 1 to minus 1.7 degrees.

Hot temperatures exceeding 25 degrees Celsius were measured in Finland on a total of nine different days, which is seven days below the July average.

The greatest number of hot days – a total of 5 – was measured in Kevo, Utsjoki. In most places, there were between 0 and 2 hot days. Compared to the long-term average, the number of hot days in the southern and central parts of the country was lower than usual in many places.

The highest temperature of the month, 29.2 degrees Celsius, was also recorded at Kevo in Utsjoki on July 11. The lowest temperature in July was minus 2.9 degrees Celsius, recorded in Tulppio, Savukoski on the 3rd of the month.