The latest forecasts indicate that the current cooling trend in Finland is likely to deepen over the weekend and during the first few days of the New Year, when arctic currents move in from the east.
Meteorologists say the conditions will be conducive to the formation of powerful but small-scale bands of snowfall.
So far this year’s winter has been very mild. Seas have been unseasonably warm with surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Finland registering five or six degrees Celsius. As the warm surface waters make contact with colder air conditions become unstable.
Heavy snow possible in the south
Moisture from the sea evaporates into the dry, cold air and forms cumulonimbus clouds. If prevailing winds blow the clouds over the coast, it can give rise to snow flurries, which can sometimes be very dense.
The forecast for the weekend ahead and early next week is still very uncertain. A low pressure zone will join with cold air masses which will move across southern Finland Sunday. The route of the band of low pressure may still change.
At the moment it appears that there is a growing possibility of thick snow flurries over the south coast during the course of Sunday or Monday. However even the slightest change in wind direction could materially affect the forecast, meteorologists said.