Only once in 40 years does Helsinki experience downpours like those of last week

In Kaisaniemi it has already rained 127.8 mm this August

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Well, it is now official: the deluge at the Olympic Stadium wasn't your normal Finnish summer weather.
      Last week it rained in Helsinki's Kaisaniemi district more than would normally occur in the entire month of August. While the average precipitation for the month of August is 78 millimetres, Kaisaniemi received 94.1 mm of precipitation in just one week.
      Tuesday, the week's wettest day, saw rainfall of no less than 25.1 mm, most of it in a memorable two-hour spell in the evening. It was particularly memorable if you happened to be in the Olympic Stadium at the time, either watching or participating.
     
The driest days for the World Championships in Athletics were the closing Saturday and Sunday. The morning of the first Saturday also dawned bright and fine, but the opening ceremonies in the evening were spoiled by conditions only marginally less biblical than those on Tuesday night. 
      Tuesday's rain and lightning caused a two-hour stoppage to proceedings as the Olympic Stadium was completely powered down for safety reasons.  
      "On average, it rains this hard once in 40 years. The last incident is from July last year. In other words, we have now used up our torrential rains for the next 80 years!" explains meteorologist Lea Saukkonen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
      By Monday morning, it had already rained 127.8 mm in August, and the month is only half way through.
      "These rains were exceptionally hard. Too bad it all happened during the games", Saukkonen sighs.
     
"It is difficult to draw any certain conclusions from the rains of July 2004 and August 2005, but the climate change does predict an increase in extreme occurrences. We'd be well advised to prepare ourselves for occasional storms and downpours."
      Though water levels of lakes in Southern Finland rose during the rain, no measures were taken by Helsinki Water, the company that is in charge of supplying nearly a million people in the city and environs with fresh water.


Links:
  Helsinki Water
  Finnish Meteorological Institute

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