Temperatures climb in Finland, still warm and dry in Sydney

Temperatures have been steadily climbing in Jyväskylä since last Friday morning. It measured -20.6C then, and just earlier at 5pm today it was 0.3C. Yesterday, with a high of -4.4C, was the first day above -5C in over 3 weeks. From a personal point of view, -3C this morning felt almost tropical.

The weekend also saw some snow, especially on Saturday morning. Approximately 5-7cm fell around the Jyväskylä area increasing the snow depth to 11cm. These were the biggest falls since early January.

Snow falling in Jyväskylä during the afternoon of February 1

The ice of Jyväsjärvi has been thick enough for skating and skiing for a couple of weeks now

Temperatures in Jyväskylä should drop again after tomorrow, with it possibly dipping to -10C on Thursday and Friday morning, but plus temperatures could make a return on the weekend or then early next week. Long term forecasts are showing warmer than normal temperatures throughout Finland for the next 4 weeks, so a mild February is looking likely.

Sydney has continued its relatively dry summer with no falls recorded during the past 8 days at Sydney Airport. It's quite normal at this time of the year to see unsettled and stormy weather along the east coast, but significant falls just haven't eventuated.

Warm temperatures have accompanied the dry conditions since Australia Day. In the 8 days since January 26, daily maximums have ranged between 27.3C and 30.9C. Yesterday's daily minimum of 22.1C was the highest minimum in almost a year. The previous highest of 22.7C was recorded on February 26 last year. The coming couple of days should see cooler temperatures though, as well as the possibility of a few showers.

The aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Dylan, which hit the Central Queensland coast last Friday, was not as bad as had been expected - which is only good of course. Most of the strong winds that were predicted avoided local towns, and most of the damage appeared to be from the high storm tide and heavy and isolated rainfall.

A new Category 1 system, Tropical Cyclone Fletcher, is currently sitting in the far south of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north-western coast of Queensland. There are no large towns in the area but locals have been warned about the potential for strong winds and heavy rainfall. The system isn't expected to strengthen further and should weaken by Wednesday as it moves west towards the Northern Territory.