March was milder than usual and fairly cloudy throughout the country

In Lapland, the first half of March was unusually mild, but the weather cooled down towards the end of the month. At the end of the month, the temperatures in the southern and central parts of the country were already quite springlike. Fog was fairly common, especially in the south, during March.

Photo: Juha Tuomi

According to the statistics of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the average temperature in March varied from approximately +1 degrees Celsius in the southwest part of the country to about –6 degrees Celsius in Northern Lapland. In most parts of the country, the average temperature in March was 1.5–3 degrees above the average of the 1991–2020 reference period. The last time March was approximately as warm in Finland was in 2022.

The highest temperature in March was 13.1°C, recorded in Jomala, Ahvenanmaa, on 30 March. Meanwhile, the lowest temperature was –31.0 degrees in Tulppio, Savukoski, on 25 March.

Precipitation was close to normal in a large part of the country

The greatest amount of precipitation for March was 52.3 millimetres, recorded at the Tuorila observation station in Merikarvia. The lowest amount of precipitation for the entire month, 13.4 mm, was recorded at the Näkkälä observation station in Enontekiö. The greatest amount of precipitation in a single day, 29.1 mm, was recorded at the Pirttikoski observation station in Hämeenlinna, on 16 March.

The entire country had fewer hours of sunshine than usual. The southern and central parts of the country saw exceptionally few hours of sunshine. The large number of foggy days partly explains the low number of sunshine hours. On the southern coast, about half of the days of the month were foggy.

At the end of the month, an abnormal night-time thunderstorm was experienced in Satakunta and Pirkanmaa, during which more than a hundred ground flashes were detected.

At the end of March, the southern and western parts of the country were already snow-free in places. In the eastern and northern parts of the country, on the other hand, snow depth was still over half a metre in many places. The greatest amount of snow was in Central Lapland and Kainuu, where snow depth was over 100 centimetres in places.

More information:

Climate in Finland

Weather statistics from the Climate Service, tel. 0600 1 0601 (€ 4.01/min + local network fee)

WeatherStatisticsClimateMarch