2013 Yearly Review - Jyväskylä

Like Sydney, albeit on an entirely different level, 2013 was a rather warm year for Jyväskylä. While it didn't see the heat extremes of 2010, mild temperatures, particularly towards the end of the year, helped make 2013 one of the warmest on record. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the yearly average temperature throughout Finland was the 6th highest since records began in 1847.

When comparing 2013's results for Jyväskylä against 1981-2010 averages, only the months of March, April and July had lower values. The month of March was particularly cold with the 4th lowest average temperature since 1961. It was also the coldest month of the 2012/13 winter (December-March); only the 9th time March has been the coldest winter month since 1900/01. On the other hand, December was especially warm. It was the 5th warmest since 1961.

If we look at average minimums and maximums of 2013, March had the lowest average minimum of the year while January was responsible for the lowest average maximum. February is typically the coldest month of the year. June turned out to be the warmest month of the year with both the highest average minimum and maximum, titles typically held by July. The graph below shows the monthly averages for 2013. The dotted lines represent the 1981-2010 average.

Monthly averages at Jyväskylä Airport in 2013 (plus dotted line for 1981-2010 averages)

The highest temperature recorded in 2013 was 30.2C on June 27. This was the only day of the year to peak above 30C. June 27 was also responsible for the highest minimum of 18.1C. The lowest temperature of the year of -29.2C was recorded on January 18. The 18th was also the coldest day of the year with the daily maximum not going above -21.2C.

The following graph shows the extremes of the past 5 years; the number of days with measurements below -20C and above 25C in Jyväskylä in the period 2009-2013. 2013 was the only year of the past 5 to have more days above 25C than below -20C.

Number of days below -20C and above 25C in the period 2009-2013

Another couple of statistical figures of 2013 include the fact that there were a total of 202 days that didn't drop below 0C. This was the highest of the 2009-2013 period, just beating 2011 which had 201 days. For the number of days entirely below 0C, 2011 had the least of the 5 years with 63 days. There were 81 days entirely below 0C in 2013, compared to 100 in 2012, 103 in 2009 and 120 in 2010.

Rainfall was above average throughout most of Central Finland. According to the map shown here, Jyväskylä was slightly above average. However, looking at monthly statistics on the FMI site, rainfall was just below average. A total of 639mm was recorded, compared to the 1981-2010 average of 643mm. The monthly figures could have been rounded down to whole numbers.

At a monthly level, there were 4 months of the year above their respective averages; June, August, November and December. The wettest month was June with 95mm, 42% above average. The summer months accounted for just over 40% of the yearly total. The driest month was May during which only 16mm was recorded, 36% of the average. The most anomalous month was December with a monthly recording 47% above average.

A few strong storms affected large parts of Finland towards the end of the year. Eino, Oskari and Seija were responsible for strong winds, fallen trees and electrical blackouts. Coastal areas were the worst affected. Jyväskylä escaped the brunt of the storms but still saw winds gusts above 20m/s.

Looking at 2013 and its overall average temperatures, it's hard not to compare it to 2011. The biggest similarity of 2011 and 2013 was that both ended with unusually warm Decembers. One thing that is interesting to note is that, on the back of that extremely warm December 2011, late January and early February 2012 saw one of the coldest periods of the last 5 years. 2012 was also a much cooler year as a whole. Maybe 2014 has something similar to offer.