Cold again in Finland, cooler in Sydney also

Temperatures in Jyväskylä have continued their rollercoaster run during the past week. After two days with maximums above zero on January 8 and 9, temperatures dropped sharply over the weekend. It dipped below -15C yesterday to -16.5C. Today has seen a slightly recovery back above -14C, but temperatures should drop later tonight.

Early last week saw Jyväskylä's coldest day in almost two years. January 6 only reached as high as -18.5C. That's colder than any day in 2014 and the coldest since January 18 in 2013.

The up and down nature of temperatures since the middle of December can be seen in the graph below. The relationship between precipitation and the warmer temperatures is also clear.

Fluctuating temperatures alongside precipitation in Jyväskylä in late December 2014 and early January 2015

Locations in Finland's north have seen very cold temperatures the past couple of days. It almost dropped below -40C at Utsjoki in the far north late yesterday. The -39.6C recording there is the coldest so far this winter. The 2013/14 winter's coldest temperature was also seen in Utsjoki, a freezing -40.7C. At the moment, most of Lapland is experiencing consistent temperatures around -35C.

Back in Central Finland, additional snow towards the end of last week helped pushed the snow depth up to, and in some places over, 30cm. This January has already seen far more precipitation than last year. Only 16.8mm fell throughout January 2013, but the first 12 days this time around have already seen 31.9mm.

Warmer temperatures will return once again on Wednesday with tops a couple of degrees below zero. Even milder temperatures, possibly as high as 2C, will arrive on Saturday though before another drop at the start of next week. Snow depths should increase in the coming days as well.

Tuomiojärvi with Laajavuori in the background under the last of the day's light on January 6 

Snow falling in Jyväskylä's city centre on January 8

Sydney's warm run came to an end yesterday. After two weeks with daily maximums above 25C, Sunday January 11 struggled to break the 22C mark. It was a little unexpected though. Forecasts last Friday for yesterday and today predicted a top of 26C for both days. Yesterday's maximum of 21.9C was actually the lowest since late November. Today only reached 23.2C.

The drop in daily maximums has also led to lower minimums. This evening saw the first temperature below 20C at Sydney Airport since the year began. Since January records began in 1940, no other year saw the first 11 days go by without a temperature below 20C at the Airport. 1999, really the only other comparable year, saw only one minimum below 20C in the first 14 days, on January 3. That minimum was also quite high at 19.8C.

The first eight days of 2015 went rain free at Sydney Airport. Friday saw the year's first measurement with 0.2mm though and forecasts at the time predicted the chance of some showers over the weekend. However, more came than expected. Persistent rain arrived in Sydney on Saturday evening. The calendar days of January 10 and 11 recorded respective totals of 7.8mm and 16.8mm; the latter being the highest daily total in almost five weeks. Today added a further 0.4mm to the monthly total and more rain is expected tomorrow.