Normally residents of southern Finland will head north at this time of year if they wish to prolong their seasonal enjoyment of glittering snow and frostily sparkling window panes. However, this year they might as well just stay at home, since the capital region still boasts 70 centimetres of its own white stuff to enjoy.
On Thursday morning the Finnish Meteorological Institute recorded 68 centimetres of snow at Helsinki Vantaa airport, which is more than half a metre more than the usual for this time of year – 15 centimetres of snow is generally the norm.
In other parts of Finland the snow cover is also proving resilient well into the year. In Kotka and Lahti 50 centimetres of coverage can still be seen, 45 centimetres in the streets of Kaisaniemi in central Helsinki, and in Lappeenranta and Hanko around 40 centimetres still carpets the frozen ground. Meanwhile, Turku residents find themselves still stuck with 30 centimetres of the tenacious white blanket.
Night frosts preventing thaw
Exceptionally cold nights in March have dragged average temperatures down sharply compared to the seasonal standard. Although daytime temperatures have been close to average for the time of year, overnight readings have been more than 10 degrees Celsius colder than usual.
According to Yle meteorologist Toni Hellinen, when the snow is clean, the sun’s rays don’t quite have enough daylight hours to melt through large amounts. However, dirty road edges melt much faster.
Hellinen is almost certain that March will be the coldest in Finland’s temperature measurement history.
The chilly weather looks set to continue around the country at least into the first week of April, Hellinen predicts. High pressure weather patterns are persisting in Northern Europe, which is preventing warmer weather from arriving in Finland.