FINLAND has broken a five-year-old warm temperature record for November, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
The mercury climbed to 14.7°C in Pori, Western Finland, on Tuesday, breaking the previous record by 0.4°C. Helena Laakso, a meteorologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), confirmed to the newspaper that the unusually warm temperatures are expected to continue for at least the next couple of days.
“It’s looking quite temperate. There are no signs of the weather getting colder. Maybe it’ll get a bit colder sometime next weekend, on Sunday or Monday,” she said.
Helsingin Sanomat wrote that the new warm temperature record may come under threat as soon as on Friday. FMI is presently forecasting that the mercury will rise to 12–13°C especially in south-western parts of Finland.
Temperatures that high are typically not recorded September and October, said Kaisa Solin, a meteorologist at FMI. In November, the highs typically hover between 8°C and 11°C, according to statistics maintained by FMI.
The start of the month has been not only temperate, but also stormy. Heavy rains and strong winds kept rescue crews busy by downing trees on roads and power lines, leaving thousands of households without electricity between late Monday and early Tuesday.
Gust speeds of as high as 36 metres per second were recorded in Kaskinen, Ostrobothnia, on Monday.
FMI on Monday also reported that October was unusually warm in virtually all parts of the country, with the average temperatures ranging from about 2°C in northern areas to 10°C in south-western areas, deviating from the long-term averages by roughly 2.5°C. The tenth month of the year is that warm only once in 10–20 years.
The highest temperature of last month, 18.7°C, was recorded in Kouvola, Southern Finland, on 5 October. The lowest temperature, -20.5°C, was recorded in Enontekijö, Lapland, on 31 October.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
