Don't always believe the forecast

So in my post yesterday I commented that Sunday December 8 was the first day with a maximum below -5C and that yesterday December 9 was the first day with a minimum below -15C. Well it looks like I spoke too soon.

The forecast at the time predicted a low of -19C by 2am this morning having dropped to -17C by 11pm yesterday. Shortly after I submitted my post, the forecast had been revised to -16C by 2am. Another hour later and it was revised to -12C.

So the lesson here is to not always believe the forecast 100% of the time (probably something we all know already). I have updated the table from yesterday's post, as shown below. Long term forecasts for warmer weather in the coming weeks might mean Jyväskylä will wait until January to fill that box.

FMI releases a daily map image showing temperature distribution throughout Finland during 24 hours from 8am to 8am. The image below is today's edition for low temperatures.

Minimum temperatures throughout Finland between 8am 9.12.2013 and 8am 10.12.2013
Source: Finnish Meteorological Insitute

So it turns out that Jyväskylä, shown by the red dot, wasn't far off having those colder temperatures. In Kuopio, 120km to the north east of Jyväskylä, it was around -21C this morning. In many locations further east and to the north it went below -30C.

Sydney also defied forecasts today. The forecast yesterday predicted a top of 28C, but it went well above that reaching 34.4C at the Airport. The predicted overnight low of 22C was also below the actual. In fact it hasn't gone below 24C for almost 36 hours so far. Predicted rain this morning also didn't eventuate. No stations in Sydney recorded any rainfall today.