Beginning of June sees month's worth of rain as summer starts wet in Finland

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Though it is early days yet, the summer of 2005 seems frighteningly similar to the one before. After the period of snow, ice, and frost, the rain seems to have picked up where it left off in the autumn.
      "Just when I really could have used a warm, sunny holiday, after the first year in high school", frowns 16-year-old Leena Linjama. Monday was the first official day of the school holidays.
      In the capital area and elsewhere along the southern coast, the first few days of June have produced enough rain to fill a full month's quota. The beginning of the summer has been noticeably wet also on the west coast and in the south-east of the country.
     
And the unsettled weather seems to continue: today's forecast includes showers at least for southern and southeastern parts of Finland.
      "But the rain will not change our summer plans", claim Leena Linjama and her friends Salli Laukkanen, 16, and Sofia Smeds, 16, who are all determined to attend at least one of summer's numerous rock festivals.
      "Our tent is waterproof", the girls declare bravely.
      "A cruise on the Baltic, the movies, various concerts, house parties, indoor sports such as basketball or squash, or WoW, the online role game", the girls list summer activities suitable for rainy days.
      "The rain also makes it easier to breathe for those allergic to pollen", Laukkanen adds.
      Liisa Pirjola, the project manager of the Helsinki Polytechnic air quality study that utilises a mobile laboratory "Sniffer" built on a VW van, confirms that the street dust count is on the decline.
     
For Finnish farmers, the joy of adequate precipitation proved short-lived, as it now begins to turn into grief at the sight of too much rain coming down.
      Farmer Tuomas Kekki's malt barley and spring wheat are thriving, as are the cauliflowers that were planted out in April-May.
      However, the situation is considerably worse for those cauliflower sprouts that still sit in the greenhouse waiting to be planted. In many parts of Finland the fields are too wet for seeding right now.
      The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will once again have to resort to applying for an extension to sowing times from the EU Commission, which has granted it each year.
      In addition to sowing, the weed and pest prevention is also running late in many areas, as the fields are currently too wet to support the weight of the necessary machinery. The cool weather also slows down evaporation, which means the drying of the fields may take some time.


Links:
  Finnish Meteorological Institute

Helsingin Sanomat