Weather in 2007

Another warm year

The year 2007 was unusually warm. There were few winter days, and the mean temperature of March was record high. After a mild autumn, the year ended with an exceptionally warm December.

"Throughout the country, the mean temperature in 2007 was 1.0-1.6 degrees higher than the average," says meteorologist Hanna Tietäväinen. "In Southern Finland, the mean temperature was about 6°C and in Northern Finland between 0 and +3°C."

There were few winter days in 2007

"In autumn 2006, thermal winter - or the time when the daily mean temperature is under zero degrees - began between five and nine weeks later than usual in Southern and Central Finland. In all, thermal winter was 60-80 days shorter than the average," Hanna Tietäväinen explains.

In 2007, thermal spring began about a month earlier than the average, or in early March, in all of Finland with the exception of Lapland. There was not much snow, either.

"Even up to the southern parts of Oulu Province, there was no snow on the ground until mid-January 2007. By mid-March, the permanent snow cover had already melted in Southern and Southwestern Finland.

In most regions of Southern and Western Finland, thermal winter began at the usual time, or 12-13 November, in autumn 2007. In Northern and Eastern Finland, thermal winter started at the turn of October-November. Winter came to Lapland a couple of weeks later than the average. On the southern coast, thermal winter had not yet started by the end of the year.

March and December particularly warm

Hanna Tietäväinen mentions March as a special month in 2007.

"In March, the mean temperature was 3-3.5 degrees higher than normal throughout the country. At Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, for instance, the temperature reached 17.5°C on 27 March."

With the exception of the northernmost Lapland, January was also between two and four degrees warmer than usual. In contrast, the mean temperature of February was 3-7 degrees lower than the average.

Thanks to the warm August, the mean temperature of summer 2007 was 0.5-1.5 degrees higher than the long-term average. The warm weather continued in autumn, too: in Southern and Central Finland, autumn was about one degree and in Lapland 1-2 degrees warmer than normal.

"December was also milder than the average in the whole country, and exceptionally mild in Lapland. In Southern and Central Finland, temperatures were about 3-6 and in Northern Finland as much as 9 degrees higher than normal at that time of the year."

Uneven distribution of rain

Rainfall in June-August was distributed very unevenly between various regions. In some areas, precipitation exceeded 300 mm, whereas the average sum of precipitation for the summer months in inland areas is 180-230 mm.

"However, the precipitation measured during the year in the whole of Finland was typical, or slightly higher than the average for the reference period 1971-2000. In inland areas, the rainiest month of the year was July and on the southern and southwestern coast it was September".

By the end of August, just under 60,000 lightning strokes had been recorded in Finland's land areas. This is about half of the average for summer. A thunderstorm that Hanna Tietäväinen specially mentions is the fierce thunderstorm, accompanied by exceptionally strong lightning, that hit Uusimaa on 22 August.

"There were few trombs over land areas in summer 2007, but many waterspouts were seen in August and September. The total number of trombs and waterspouts recorded during the summer season was about 15."

Records in 2007