March 2015 Review - Jyväskylä

Above average figures from February in Finland weren't limited to that month only as they carried over into March in 2015. Just like the month prior, Jyväskylä recorded the fifth warmest March since at least 1961. All of Finland saw above average temperatures. Precipitation was above average for most of the country as well.

The past two Marches in Jyväskylä have been comfortably above long term figures. Their difference to the years between 2009 and 2013 can be seen below.

March averages at Jyväskylä Airport for the period 2009-2015

Since 2009, 2015's figures are only surpassed by those from 2014. The Finnish Meteorological Institute recorded an overall monthly average of -0.4C. This puts March 2015 as the fifth warmest since at least 1961. 2007 recorded the warmest, but as with February as well, 2014 is second on the list.

Averages throughout Finland were between 3C and 5.5C above the average. The greatest differences were seen in the northern half of the country. Some parts of Lapland saw warmth that is, on average, experienced only once every 50 years.

Three out of the four extremes in Jyväskylä for March were the highest respective figures since 2009. The coldest temperature was -15.7C, recorded on the 26th. Marches from 2010 through 2013 all saw temperatures below -20C. The coldest day was March 21. It climbed as high as -3.1C then, just above 2014's figure of -3.2C.

The highest daily minimum was also the highest figure since 2009. The 8th saw very mild overnight temperatures. It never went below 2.7C then. Only the overall maximum for the month wasn't the highest respective figure of the past seven years. It was, however, the second highest. Both March 17 and 18 topped 11.2C. 2014 saw a top of 12.1C, but it only saw two days above 10C, while 2015 saw three. Of the five Marches prior to 2014, the highest temperature seen was 7.2C in 2011.

Country extremes ranged from 13.5C in Jomala on the 8th down to -28.1C in Salla on the 22nd.

The start of the month continued the mild weather seen in late February. March 12 saw a change as overnight temperatures plummeted and daytime temperatures soared. The week between the 12th and 18th saw each day record a difference between the minimum and maximum of more than 15C. The last time there were more consecutive days than seven with a temperature difference greater than 15C was in February 2011. The difference on both March 16 and 17 was 20.9C. This was the highest daily difference since May 19 last year.

The graph below shows the unusual weather in the middle of the month. It was also very dry during that period.

Daily minimums and maximums against rainfall at Jyväskylä Airport for March 2015

Precipitation during the month fell as snow and rain. Only a few small areas in the far north, south-east and between Tampere and Lahti experienced below average totals. A total of 46.3mm was recorded at Tikkakoski. FMI recorded the total as 46mm. This is compared to 2014's figure of 29.8mm and the 1981-2010 average of 36mm.

There were 18 days of precipitation. 10 of those made up the longest precipitation streak which lasted from March 2 to 11 and accounted for 21.0mm. The following 10 days saw the opposite with no rain or snow recorded. The wettest day was the 30th of the month when 7.1mm was measured. It was one of three days to exceed 5mm.

Snow depths were above 30cm at the start of the month but quickly dropped as the temperatures exceeded 6C on the 12th. By the 15th the depth sat at 23cm, about half the long term average, but by the end of the month it wasn't much different, sitting at about 20cm.