Weather services: Updates and production

The Finnish Meteorological Institute's web service contains dozens of different weather products. These pages give you more detailed information on the updating schedules and production methods of these services. Please note that the Institute cannot guarantee that information is always updated at the times given. Times vary according to daylight saving times. If necessary, boldface is used to distinguish normal time (winter time) from summer time.

Local weather: Weather forecast for Finland

Using the quick menu for local weather, you can find a weather forecast for about 17,000 localities in Finland. Besides all the Finnish municipalities, the list includes villages and city districts.

On the front page of the web service, the quick menu for local weather can be accessed by clicking ‘Weather’ at the top left-hand corner of the page. On all other pages, the quick menu for local weather is at the top right-hand corner of the page.

The forecast shows the weather symbol, the temperature and the wind direction and speed. The moon symbol is used when the sun is below the horizon.

The weather forecast covers the next five days.

  • For the next few hours, the forecast is given every three hours (covering roughly the next 18 hours).
  • Thereafter, the forecast is given every six hours, at 2/3, 8/9, 14/15 and 20/21 (extending up to about two days).
  • The rest of the forecast is given every 12 hours so that the forecast always covers a night and a day.

See the explanations for the weather symbols used for the web service.

Local weather observations

Local weather observations are collected from the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s observation stations. The name of the observation station is given together with the observations. Information is updated every 10–60 minutes.

The page shows one or more observation stations closest to the forecast site. All localities do not necessarily have a suitable observation station within the same municipality. Some localities have several observation stations.

The observation stations transmit the following data, depending on the station:

  • temperature
  • atmospheric pressure
  • relative humidity
  • dew point
  • wind direction and speed (10-minute average wind)
  • gust value of wind (greatest 3-second average wind during the past hour)
  • precipitation during the past hour and precipitation accumulated during the past 12/24 hours (daily precipitation data from observations at 8:00/9:00 and at 20:00/21:00).
  • snow depth
  • cloudiness
  • visibility

The observation quantities reported vary from station to station depending on what data are measured at each station.

Cloudiness codes are converted to text as follows:

  • 0/8 = sunny
  • 1–2/8 = almost sunny
  • 3–5/8 = partly cloudy
  • 6–7/8 = almost cloudy
  • 8–9/8 = cloudy
  • 9/8 means that the amount of clouds cannot be determined, for instance, because of thick fog or heavy rain.

Some observation stations measure the snow depth in the morning at 8:00/9:00. For snow depth and for precipitation accumulated during the past 12 and 24 hours, the time when the observation was made is given in parentheses.

Observation data on temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind, precipitation and cloudiness for the past 48 hours are indicated as observation curves. The curves are updated as frequently as the observation data in text format. A missing observation is marked with a red X on the curve depicting one-hour precipitation and cloudiness. If observations have been received from a station less frequently than once an hour, the interim times have a red X for cloudiness and precipitation. A zero means that precipitation is 0 mm or cloudiness 0/8.

The arrow indicates the wind direction. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north and the arrow points downwards. Correspondingly, an easterly wind blows from the east and the arrow points to the left.

The red line on the temperature curve indicates zero degrees Celsius; on the pressure curve it indicates a mean pressure of 1013 hPa.

Times for sunrise and sunset

The sunrise and sunset times given are the values calculated for the locality in question. If there are any minor differences between these times and other sources determining sunrise and sunset times, they may stem from the fact that sunrise and sunset times are calculated using several astronomical formulas. Moreover, the coordinate points used in the calculation may give rise to differences in the times given.

Read more information about length of day in Finland.

Warnings for specific localities

The local weather pages show the warnings for land areas that are currently in force. The warnings are given separately for each province. Each municipality is situated in a certain province and each locality is situated in a certain municipality.

To see all of the warnings issued by the Finnish Meteorological Institute for a certain period of time, click See all warnings in force.

More information about the warning types applied by the Finnish Meteorological Institute.