Unusual extremes for Sydney in the past week, summery weather continues in Finland

Sydney has seen some unusual extremes during the past week. July ended very warm, but August has started off in cold fashion. Dry weather has also continued despite the changing temperatures.

After recording what was the 5th warmest July day since 1993 on the 29th with 23.9C, Sydney Airport quickly relegated that measurement to the 7th warmest. Both July 30 and 31 pushed above 25C, a rare achievement for July. The last 3 days of July pushed the average maximum from 18.1C to 18.8C.

A top of 25.1C was recorded on the 30th, before the 31st pushed up to 25.8C. This was the warmest day at the Airport in more than 2 months. The 25.8C recording was also the equal second warmest July day in the Airport's 76 year history. Including last Wednesday and Thursday, since 1939 there have been only 9 July days above 25C. Only July 1975 recorded 2 days above the mark, and this was the first time for 2 consecutive days.

The change of month was met with a fairly dramatic drop in temperatures. August 1 saw a top 6C lower than the previous day, and the month's second day saw the coldest daily maximum of the year so far. Observatory Hill managed to reach 16.1C, but it didn't even pass 14C at the Airport, only getting to 13.8C. It was the coldest day since August 8 last year.

The following morning saw a very chilly start. Something that has become increasingly rare over the past two decades is a temperature below 5C. August 3 had a minimum of only 4.9C. It was the first time below 5C at the Airport since June 30 in 2010. It was also only the 3rd time in the past 7 years that it has dropped below 5C.

Daily minimums and maximums at Sydney Airport during the past 2 weeks

Recent dry weather has continued in Sydney as well. Today pushed the current streak to 9 days without rain. Since June 15 the Airport has seen less than 10mm of precipitation.

Every day since my last post has topped 25C at Jyväskylä Airport. Finland's warm spell has lasted about a month so far. Of the past 19 days only July 29 failed to go above 25C, and it was mighty close then with a top of 24.8C. Minimums have also been high. Temperatures haven't actually dropped below 10C since July 12.

Helsinki also saw some glorious weather over the weekend.
This was the view from Suomenlinna on August 1.

After missing heavy rain from storms on July 29 and 30, Tikkakoski finally received good falls on the 31st. Rain in the early hours of the morning dropped around 22mm. The first few days of August have remained rain free.