Cold in Sydney, warmth continues in Jyväskylä

Not long after most of Sydney saw its coldest temperatures in over a year, today saw the coldest day of 2014 at the Airport. The mercury only reached 14.1C, recorded in the morning, while the majority of the afternoon saw it hover just under 14C.

The 14.1C maximum of today was the first below 15C for the year. This was the third latest date in the year for such an occurrence. It was also the coldest day since August 8 last year when it only got to 13.3C. The overnight low was also quite cold. It dropped to 6.2C this morning, making it the fourth coldest minimum of the year (including July 14). 

Seeing as it was already below 10C just after midnight a few hours ago, there have now been 15 consecutive days with a minimum below 10C. How does this compare to recent years? Well, considering 2014 now holds the record for the latest date for the first minimum below 10C, it's quite surprising to see that the current run of 15 days is the equal second longest since 2009. The winter of 2009 saw 21 straight days below the mark. 2010 and 2011 saw a longest streak of only 11.

The low maximum in Sydney today meant it was a good chance for Jyväskylä to record its first day of the year where the Jyväskylä minimum was higher than the Sydney maximum. And it has done just that. It only dipped just below 15C not long after midnight, and remained above the 14.1C reading at Sydney Airport for the rest of the day. This is not a common thing to happen. In 2009 it didn't happen once, and between 2010 and 2013 it happened only 16 times. The record summer of 2010 was responsible for 8 occurrences. Typically this happens during July, but it has been seen in late June and early August also.

Not only did the temperature remain just above 15C today, it went all the way above 25C, for the 11th time this year. Jyväskylä is currently experiencing a rather good run of summer weather. Of the last 11 days, only 1 has failed to go above 20C. The 14.9C minimum today is also the highest of the year so far. 

Another good indicator of how warm it has been recently is the increase in water temperatures. Surface temperatures for larger lakes in most of the southern two-thirds of the country are now around 21-22C, while smaller lakes could be as high as 24-25C.

Cirrus clouds over Jyväskylä in the afternoon of July 12

As predicted last week, temperatures this week should also stay in the warm range. Today made it 9 days straight without rain, but showers and storms are likely to affect Central Finland at some point this week. Tomorrow and Wednesday are the most likely days according to the current forecast.