Summer still on hold in Jyväskylä, signs of winter in Sydney

Summer 2015 is taking its time to arrive in Finland. It was assured today that 2015 would record the latest date for the first temperature above 20C in Jyväskylä in the years since 2009. In the six years from 2009 to 2014, the earliest day of the year to record the first maximum above 20C has ranged from April 26 in 2011 to May 18 last year. The highest temperature so far in 2015 at Jyväskylä Airport is 18.1C, recorded on the 6th of this month.

The May 6 maximum is one of only three days above 15C so far at Tikkakoski this year. Going up to May 18, this is the lowest number of days for all years since 2009. 2009 and 2013 had seen 11 days by this point, while the average across the previous years is a bit over eight. May 16's maximum of 9.8C is a long way off the maximum of 28.3C on the same day in 2010 as well. 

The cooler temperatures are likely to continue too. The current 10 day forecast still doesn't show any days above 20C. Between 2009 and 2014, the highest respective May temperatures have ranged from 22.4C in 2011 to 29.3C last year.

In addition to the cooler weather, rain has also been around. Since May 6, only the 16th hasn't seen any precipitation recorded at Tikkakoski. The highest daily rainfall of the year was set anew on Wednesday May 13 when 22.7mm was recorded. This almost doubled the previous highest total of 11.6mm from the second day of the year. There were only four days in 2014 with a total over 22.7mm.

In Sydney, the past week has seen some early chills of winter. The past six days have failed to climb above 20C, equalling the longest run below the mark since a string of 13 days last August. The lower temperatures aren't really that unusual for this time of the year, but it's quite different from last May when some exceptionally warm weather arrived in Sydney.

Minimums for the past couple of days have also been fairly normal, in the low teens, but there was definitely a wintery feel about the afternoon of Wednesday May 13. Temperatures reached 17.4C at the Airport just after midday, but a southerly change dropped the mercury closer to 10C already before 4pm. A few showers made their way across the city as well, dropping 2.2mm at the Airport. Snow was even sighted near Goulburn, 170km southwest of Sydney. 

The late evening of the 13th saw temperatures drop below 10C for the first time this year and for the first time since mid-October last year. The following morning of May 14 recorded a minimum of 7.3C, the coldest May minimum at Sydney Airport since 2011.

After seeing 44.4mm fall on May 1 and 2, the following 16 days at the Airport have seen only 3.8mm more added to the monthly total. May 4 to 12 saw no rain and this is the second longest dry streak so far this year.