Warm weather continues

Both Sydney and Jyväskylä enjoyed warm weather during the weekend and today, although on a slightly different scale.

Today was the fourth day in a row above 28C at Sydney Airport. After Saturday's 28.6C, it was only just lower at 28.2C yesterday. Although still below 30C, today went a little higher to 29.5C. Today's minimum of 21.8C is now the warmest of the month, equal third warmest of the year, and the highest since February 12.

Wind speeds were moderate for most of today along the coast. Sydney Airport recorded a top gust of only 41km/h. There was a brief shower early yesterday morning, but otherwise no falls have been recorded in the past few days.

After the rain and wet snow of Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend turned out quite nicely for most of Finland. Temperatures topped 4.8C at Jyväskylä Airport on Saturday. It was warmer, and especially sunny in the afternoon, on Sunday with 6.6C. Today also reached 6.6C.

Continuing on from recent weeks, these temperatures have been well above average. As a comparison, March 9 last year ranged between -20.6C and -8.9C. In the past 6 years, this is earliest time for such temperatures as well. The 10C barrier was broken in Kokemäki yesterday, 40km south east of Pori. This was the first time in Finland so far this year. It reached 10.8C there in the late afternoon.

Forecasts of 7C and 8C for Jyväskylä are still valid for the remainder of the week. Early forecasts for next week though show a return to more typical March temperatures around 0-2C.