-25C barrier broken in Jyväskylä, rain on the way for Sydney

Well I'm just going to say it. It's bloody cold here in Jyväskylä. Temperatures dropped below -25C this morning for the first time this winter. The low of -26.0C just before 9am is now the lowest minimum of the month. Temperatures dropped from about -15C early yesterday afternoon to -23C last night, before dropping further in the early hours of today.

With today's top of -16.5C, there have now been 8 consecutive days entirely below -10C. Tomorrow should be number 9 before it warms slightly on Saturday, perhaps as high as -8 or -9C. Currently just after 6pm it's hovering around -25C.

Having a look at previous years, this January already appears as though it will be colder than the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions. If current forecasts stay true, it's also likely to be colder than the January of 2012. By the end of the month, only January 2010 will have had more days entirely below -10C. It's quite an achievement considering the first 10 days this year had averages ranging from -1.0C to 1.4C. No other January since 2009 has had a 10 day period warmer than this year. It has been a complete turnaround since then though. From January 11 to 23 the averages have ranged from -19.4C to -12.0C.

Intermittent showers have continued in Sydney over the past few days. Temperatures have been as predicted also with today's 26.0C being the highest since Monday. Yesterday only reached a high of 23.5C. Despite the showers, there haven't been any substantial falls. Yesterday's 3.4mm is the highest daily rainfall so far this month. Also, most of the rain that has fallen has done so during the evening or late at night.

Tomorrow may see a change to that though. A trough moving east across New South Wales should generate falls throughout most of the state. The Bureau of Meterology is currently predicting Sydney to see falls between 4 and 15mm as rain develops during the afternoon.

At the moment, Australia Day on Sunday will be cooler than average. The predicted top of 23C is a few degrees below the long term average of 26.7C. If it only reaches as high as 24C, it will be the coolest Australia Day since 1997 when it only got to 22.9C.