Trees coming into leaf in Southern Finland, but Lapland is still under snow

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The cold start to May has made way for the normal advancing of spring in most areas of Finland.
      Only in Lapland has yet another cold spell put the arrival of spring on temporary hold. In the last few days some parts of Lapland still received more snow. After an exceptionally snowy winter, the thickness of the snow cover is in places 20-30 centimetres above the average for the time of year.
     
The growing season has started on schedule in southern and central parts of the country, and in places the birch trees are already coming into leaf. The past Monday marked the spring's warmest day yet in Southern Finland, with a temperature as high as 17.1°C recorded at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport.
      Still, this May does not compare to the exceptionally warm one of last year.
      "By this time last year the summer's first heat-wave had just about come to an end. Compared to that, this May does seem less summery. There are no warm spells in the forecast, but then again we don't expect frosts, either", says senior meteorologist Anneli Nordlund from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. In 2004, temperatures reached as high as 25°C and more in many areas in the first week of May, providing an ultimately false promise of a great summer in prospect.
     
On Monday more wintry weather returned to put the spring on hold in Lapland. In the Rovaniemi region, early morning rain turned into a heavy snowstorm during the course of the day. The dump of snow did not start melting until Tuesday afternoon when the temperature climbed up to five degrees Celsius.
      Main roads, however, remained free of ice, and no major traffic problems were reported anywhere. Still, those who had procrastinated over switching from studded winter tyres to the summer ones had reason to thank themselves for their sluggishness.
     
All in all, this spring has been exceptionally snowy in Lapland. The snow cover in the Kittilä and Muonio regions in the west of Lapland is still 60-80 centimetres thick.
      Even in the southern parts of the province the depth of snow still reaches 30 cms in places.
      "Nevertheless, the heat from the spring sun can thin down the snow cover by up to 12 centimetres per day, which means that even in Lapland some snowless ground can be expected to become visible within a week", predicts Nordlund.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  A good deal warmer than Madrid (7.5.2004)

Links:
  Finnish Meteorological Institute

Helsingin Sanomat