Rain returns to Sydney, warmer in Jyväskylä

Rain returned to Sydney today. After a few weeks without a daily total greater than 2.2mm, the Airport picked up 19.2mm today, with most of it falling in the morning between 5am and 11am. It was the highest daily total since 27.2mm was recorded on May 2.

Very strong, gale force winds also struck the city. Southerly gusts over 70km/h were recorded from the mid morning up until the late afternoon. The strongest of 87km/h came at 12:26pm and was the strongest since the winds of the April 20-22 storm. It was also far stronger than any other gust seen in the Mays of 2013 and 2014. The previous strongest May gust since 2013 was 69km/h, recorded on the 13th of this month, only a week and a bit ago.

To round off a rather miserable day in the coastal city, temperatures were also down on previous days. It only reached 17.4C around 12:30pm at the Airport, putting it equal with May 13 as the coldest maximum of the month and the fourth lowest maximum for the year. May 20, however, saw only the second day of the month to break the 25C barrier.

The colour of green becoming more apparent at Jyväskylä's Rautpohja lake on May 21

In Jyväskylä, today has seen the third consecutive maximum above 15C for only the second time this year. After recordings of 15.7C and 15.5C on May 20 and 21, it came close to 18C today. May 6 is the only other day so far this year to go higher than 18C.

Showers drifted through Central Finland yesterday afternoon. Jyväskylä's city centre saw some rain fall around 6:30pm, but Tikkakoski didn't see any recordings. In the past month there have been only two blocks of two consecutive rain free days. May 20 and 21 was one of them along with the 4th and 5th of this month.

Temperatures will drop again tomorrow though. FMI forecasts a top of only 10C for Jyväskylä. The next 10 days still don't show any sign of breaking 20C either.