Weather in 2008

2008 was warm and rainy

The annual temperature in Finland was above average and local records were broken both in terms of temperature and precipitation.

The year 2008 in Finland was the sixth warmest year on record. The average temperature was 1-2 degrees above average, in some southern regions above 2 degrees. In most of southern and western parts of Finland the year was the warmest in the 1961-2008 timeframe.

The annual mean temperature was 4...7 degrees in southern and central portions of the country, 0...4 degrees in southern Lapland and -2...+1 degrees in northern Lapland.

Record-breaking warmth in coastal areas of the south

Helsinki Kaisaniemi measured the highest annual mean temperature in history, 7,6°C. The historybooks go all the way to the year 1829. The previous record, 7,2°C was from 2000 and 1934. Also in Hanko the annual mean temperature was the highest on record (since 1868).

For the first time in Kaisaniemi the mean temperature of each month was above zero degrees celcius.

Winter mildness broke records

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute the high annual mean temperature is explained mainly by the very mild beginning to the year 2008. The dominant air flow was from the southwest and there was practically no ice covering the Baltic Sea.

Winter of 2007-2008 was exceptionally warm in most of Finland. There were significantly fewer "winter days" than normal (daily mean temperature below zero). The thermal winter began quite normally although the southwestern and southern coasts only got to experience a few winter days before spring. Snow cover was well below average and southern parts of the country had no permanent snow cover.

The experts at Finnish Meteorological Institute expect similar kinds of winters to become more frequent due to climate change and that we will see less cold, snowy winters in the future.

Hot days a rarity during the summer

Spring of 2008 was slightly warmer than average and summer on the other hand was cooler and rainier.

In many parts of eastern and northern Finland there were no "hot days" in the summer (daily maximum over 25°C), which is quite rare. Southwestern Finland had most "hot days" but even there the number was roughly half compared to an average summer.

Sunshine duration in the summer was well below average in eastern and northern regions of the country. Mainly in the southwestern coastal regions sun shone as much as one would expect.

Autumn was 10th warmest on record

In Autumn the temperature was well above normal, but with the warmth came the rain as well. Autumn ranked in the top 10 warmest autumns on record.

Winter of 2008-2009 also started in a mild fashion as December was 3-8 degrees warmer than average. Thermal winter began roughly two weeks later than normal, except near the southern coast where it had not begun by the end of the year.

Heavy rains in 2008

The annual precipitation was more than average in the whole country. Local records were broken across Finland. The annual precipitation was 700-900 mm in southern and eastern regions, 500-700 in northern Finland. Some southwestern parts of the country had over 1000 mm of precipitation. The wettest place was Lövböle in Kemiö (1064 mm). The annual precipitation amount is normally between 500-700 mm in most of the country (in parts of Lapland 400-500 mm).