Extreme Weather

Hail Storms

    Finland has a much milder climate than most other regions of the world that lie as far north. Finland's climate is influenced chiefly by the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that flows off of Norway's west coast. Finland's many lakes and the gulf of Bothnia and Finland help give the country a relatively mild climate. 

    Especially in the Autumn and Winter the weather can be hazardous with heavy snowfall and strong winds.  Weather changes can be extreme and abrupt, and can be very dangerous when a person is outside, including hail storms. 

Large hail in Finland can occur anytime between May and mid-September, with the peak time for severe hail being late June to early August when over 85% of cases have occurred. July was the most active month for severe hail.  The maximum diameters of hailstones are typically smaller than 3 cm, but even tennis-ball and baseball-size hail have been reported a few times.

Because Finland is mostly forested with many large lakes and a relatively low population density, underreporting of severe hail is significant. The majority of severe-hail reports are from the agricultural areas in western Finland. A large number of reports are also near cities and towns. Most severe-hail cases occurred in southern and western Finland, generally decreasing to the north, with the majority of the cases near population centers. The proportion of large hail to all severe-hail cases is greatest over the agricultural area in southwestern Finland where any crop damage caused by severe hail is more likely to be reported. In this location, the distribution of reported hail sizes is probably closest to that in reality. In northern Finland, severe hail is observed infrequently, mostly due to the low population density and shorter convective storm season.

Photo References:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uahPXO9RJUs/maxresdefault.jpg

References:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/Finland.htm

http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/2008MWR2707.1