January was relatively normal in terms of temperature

According to the statistics of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the average temperature in January varied from approximately -1 degrees Celsius in the southwestern archipelago to -14 degrees Celsius in Central Lapland. In a large part of the country, the average temperatures in January were fairly typical. In the southern part of the country, the average temperature was approximately one degree warmer than the average for 1981–2010, while in parts of Lapland, it was approximately one degree colder.

The highest temperature of the month was 6.8 degrees Celsius, measured in Kökar on 22 of January. The lowest temperature, in turn, was -39.4 degrees Celsius, recorded at Kittilä airport on the 13th of the month.

Rainy in the south, dryer in the north

January was rainier than usual in the southern and central parts of the country, where the monthly rainfall was in places one and a half times the ordinary. On average, such high precipitation levels in January are repeated approximately once every ten years.

The highest level of rainfall in January was measured in Nuuksio, Espoo, where the amount of precipitation was as high as 121 mm. On the other hand, precipitation levels were lower than usual in Lapland, where the amount of rainfall was 70–80 per cent of the ordinary in many places, and even less in Northwest Lapland. In January, the lowest precipitation level, only about 9.1 mm, was recorded at the Kilpisjärvi village centre observation station.

According to preliminary data, the largest daily amount of rainfall, 39.7 mm, was recorded in Nuuksio, Espoo, on the 12th of January, when the depth of snow increased by approximately 30 cm.

At the end of the month, snow depth varied from approximately 10 cm in Åland to approximately 70 cm in the western part of Lapland. In the western part of the country, snow depth was 10–20 centimetres higher than usual in places, whereas Northern Lapland had 10–20 centimetres less snow than usual.

Storms were recorded in the sea areas on four days, which is typical for January.

Further information:

Weather forecasts from the meteorologist on duty 24 h/day tel. +358 600 1 0600 (€ 3,85/min + local call charge)

Weather statistics from the Climate Service tel. +358 600 1 0601 (€ 4,01 /min + local call charge)