August and summer were exceptionally warm in Lapland

According to the statistics of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the average temperature for August varied between 14 and 16.5 degrees in the northern part of the country and between 15.5 and 18.5 degrees in the rest of the country. The weather was exceptionally warm at almost all the observation stations in Lapland. In Central and Northern Lapland, the month that just ended was the warmest August in recording history at many observation stations. Kevo in Utsjoki had the greatest deviation from the station’s average temperature for August, 4.5 degrees. At several northern observation stations, where August was not the warmest of all times, it ranked second in the statistics. In the southern and central parts of the country, August was warmer than usual, with some areas experiencing exceptionally warm weather.

There were 1–3 fewer hot days than usual in the southern and western parts of the country. In Lapland, the number of hot days was within the usual range, or there were 1–2 more hot days than usual. An exception to this was Kevo in Utsjoki, which, on average, has of one hot day in August, but this year, eight such days were recorded. This is Kevo’s new record for hot days in August. There were 13 hot days in the whole country in August, which is four days more than the average.

The highest temperature of the month, 28.4 degrees, was measured in Kevo, Utsjoki on 7 July. The lowest temperature, -0.6 degrees, was recorded in Naruska, Salla, also on 7 September. Of all the lowest temperatures documented for August in the digital daily statistics from 1959 onwards, this month’s lowest temperature stands out as the highest.

In the western part of the country, precipitation was higher than average in many places, and some parts were exceptionally rainy. It rained less in the east and the north, and the monthly precipitation was unusually low at several stations. According to preliminary results, the Tulkkila observation station in Kokemäki received the highest amount of rainfall during the month, 172.1 millimetres. The lowest amount of precipitation, 31 mm, was recorded at Lake Mekrijärvi, Ilomantsi. The highest amount of daily precipitation, 70.6 mm, was recorded at the Rausenkulma observation station in Savonlinna, on 10 August.

In August, the number of thunderstorms was lower than average. Approximately 20,600 cloud-to-ground lightings were detected in Finland, which is about 3,700 less than average for August.

The number of sunshine hours was typical in the southern part of the country. The Tähtelä observation station in Lapland recorded an unusually large number of sunshine hours, and the Kevo station in Utsjoki measured the highest number of sunshine hours in recording history for August, 256.4 hours.

Lapland’s summer was record warm

The average temperature for the whole summer, that is, June, July and August, was 1–2 degrees higher than usual in the southern and central parts of the country. In the southern and western parts, this meant a warmer summer than usual; in the east, many stations were exceptionally warm. The summer was exceptionally warm in the northern part of the country, and station-specific records for summer temperatures were broken at most of the stations. Deviations from average temperatures were largely between 2 and 3.5 degrees.

In Tähtelä, Sodankylä, the average summer temperature was 15.9 degrees, which exceeds the previous record from 1937 by almost half a degree. Climate change made the summer in Sodankylä approximately 1.8 degrees warmer than what it would have been without the impact of climate change. The probability of such a warm summer in the current climate is approximately seventy times higher than without climate change. The information is based on a peer-reviewed method by researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Helsinki.

The summer’s highest temperature, 31.4 degrees, was recorded in Asemantaus in Heinola and Savilahti in Kuopio on 28 June. The lowest temperature, -0.7 degrees, was recorded at Ylivieska airport on 5 June.

There were 63 hot days with temperatures exceeding 25 degrees in some parts of Finland between May and August, while the long-term average is 36 hot days. The period from May to August experienced the most hot days ever measured in Finland, even though the same number of hot days during this time frame was also noted in 2018. Of the individual observation stations, the largest number of hot days between May and August were recorded at the Konnunsuo observation station in Lappeenranta, 36 days. Kevo in Utsjoki had 25 hot days, which is the observation station’s new record.

The summer was rainy from the western part of the country to southern Lapland. In this area, rainfall was unusually high at some observation stations, and in the southwest, it was exceptionally high. In southern and eastern parts of the country and in eastern Lapland, summer precipitation levels were lower than usual. According to preliminary data, the highest amount of precipitation was recorded in Tulkkila, Kokemäki, 388.1 mm. The Russarö station in Hanko recorded the lowest amount of rainfall in the summer, 112.8 mm.

The summer was fairly typical in terms of the number of lightning strikes, but not in terms of their distribution over different months. Approximately 137,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were detected by the end of August. The average for the normal period is approximately 113,000. The elevated number of lightning strikes towards the end of May and beginning of June resulted in an increase in the overall statistics for both months, while July and August saw a decrease in lightning activity compared to the average.

In many places, there was slightly more sunshine than usual.

Further information

Meteorologists call a weather phenomenon exceptional when its statistical occurrence is three times or less in 100 years on average. A phenomenon is seen as rare when it occurs less frequently than once every ten years on average.

Weather statistics

You can examine past weather statistics in the Download observations service

Weather statistics from the Climate Service, tel. +358 600 1 0601 (€ 4.06/min + local network fee)