Finland sees warmer 2024 than usual

Although last year began with colder weather than usual, from May onwards the remainder of the year was warmer than the normal, said Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) on Thursday.

The average temperature for the whole country was 4.0 degrees Celsius, which is 1.1 degrees more than the long-term average for 1991‒2020.

The average temperature for the year varied from around 8 degrees in the Southwest Archipelago to about minus 1 degree in Northwestern Lapland.

The largest deviation from the long-term average was in Northern Lapland, where it was 1.7 degrees warmer than the average for the reference period.

The annual average temperature was exceptionally high in this area, and at many observation stations the annual average was the warmest in the station's history.

It was an exceptionally warm year in many places in the southern part of the country, and in other parts of the country it was also an unusually warm year.

Only January and April were colder than usual throughout the country. All other months were warmer than the normal. From May onwards, there were eight consecutive months when it was warmer than usual. September was once again record warm, following a record warm September in 2023.

The thermal time sum in 2024 has been exceptional in almost the entire country. With the exception of the western part of the country, observation station-specific records have been recorded at nearly every station, and even in the west of the country, coastal and sea stations have seen record temperatures.

Last year’s highest temperature was 31.4 degrees recorded on 28 June in both Savilahti in Kuopio and Asemantausta in Heinola.

The lowest temperature of the year, minus 44.3 degrees, was recorded on 5 January at Enontekiö Airport.

In a large part of the country, the annual precipitation rate was higher than usual. It was even unusually or exceptionally rainy in some western parts of the country.

There was a more even area in the eastern part of the country, where annual precipitation was below the averages for the reference period at all observation stations. February and April were the year's rainy months, while it rained far less than usual in May.

The highest annual precipitation rate was observed at the Tuorila observation station in Merikarvia, where it rained 921.4 mm.

Total precipitation was lowest in Kevo, Utsjoki, where it was 408.6 mm. The highest amount of precipitation per day, 70.6 mm, was recorded at Kokemäki's Rausenkulma on 10 August.

The greatest snow depth for the year, 127 cm, was recorded in Paljakka in Puolanka on 8 April.