April 2014 Review - Jyväskylä

Once again Jyväskylä recorded an above average month in terms of temperature in April 2014. The Finnish Meteorological Institute's average for the month was 3.7C, compared to my recording of 3.3C. The 3.7C figure makes it the equal fifth warmest April since at least 1961. In the 16 years since 1998, only 3 Aprils have been below the 1981-2010 average. It was a rather dry month also with below average rainfall and plenty of sun.

April averages at Jyväskylä Airport for the period 2009-2014

The average maximum for April 2014 was almost as warm as that in 2011, but the average minimum was the third lowest since 2009. In the south, Helsinki recorded its fourth warmest April on record with an average of 5.9C. It wasn't quite as warm in the north, but Sodankylä still recorded a slightly above average reading.

Not one of the four extremes for April this year was the most extreme since 2009. The highest temperature of 17.3C came on April 26. This was one of 3 days above 17C, but still a few degrees off the 20.2C figure from 2011. The highest minimum of 4.2C came a few days earlier on the 21st. The lowest temperature of the month was recorded on the 10th, a chilly -10.3C, and April 1 was responsible for the coldest day when it only got as high as 2.0C.

April 4 saw the lowest temperature of the month in Finland when it dropped to -24.0C at Salla. Kemiönsaari, in the south west, recorded the month's highest temperature, 20.4C on the 21st.

As mentioned above, even though the average maximum was quite high, the average minimum was also quite low. The average difference between the daily minimum and maximum was 11.7C. This was the highest of the past 6 years. That meant cooler overnight temperatures, but warmer daytime temperatures. The graph below shows the number of days where the minimum was below 0C and also the number of days where the maximum climbed above 10C. 2014 has the second highest and highest respective values.

Number of April days in Jyväskylä with a minimum below 0C and a maximum above 10C

According to FMI, a total of 21mm fell at Jyväskylä Airport during the month. My total read 25.2mm. Either way, both are quite far below the 1981-2010 average of 35mm. In fact, most of Finland recorded below average totals. Only in the far north was the average met or exceeded.

Most of the rain for Jyväskylä fell across the 3 days of April 11, 13 and 14 when 7.0mm, 7.6mm and 7.5mm was respectively recorded. The month had 9 days on which rain was recorded and the longest streak without rain was the 9 days between the 19th and 27th.

This post is my 100th post on this blog. For the few people who read this, thanks!