Frozen hemesterfirare

Rarely do you see such a division of heat just after the calendar months as we have done so far this summer. July was largely a chilly story, and that after a locally record-warm June. Just play with the thought of what would have been if the heat wave in June came a week later and spilled over in July. By then, June might not have been record hot, and we had not summed up July as as cold as it now became. The heat in June was more extreme than the cold in July. So far, this summer has on average been warmer than usual, and with just under 1 to almost 2 degrees in most of the country in terms of the reference years 1961–1990.

If you ask someone who worked full time all of June and then had a holiday all of July, the answer will probably be something completely different. Most of us define summer, at least the one that is "counted", as when you have a holiday and not the whole period from June 1 to the end of August as the meteorological division is.

Good holiday weather is usually synonymous with heat, sun and a little rain, and in this way we have a clear winner among returning Swedes. It is everyone who has had their base on Gotland, mainly southern Gotland considering how the rain has passed over the island. Hoburg on the southern tip had more sun (336 hours against normal 280 hours), a little warmer (average temperature 16.4 degrees against normal 15.9 degrees) and clearly drier than usual (26 mm against normal 46 mm). If you then talk about "losers" in the same way, the jumbo place is divided by the southern mountains with the most deficits in temperature, the northern Lapland mountains with the clearest lack of sun and Norrbotten with the most rain compared to normal. The one who in say Idre, Tarfala or Luleå complains the most may be described as July's homestead weather loser.

In parts of the country, July was the coldest since 1965, while in other parts of the country it was actually colder as late as last year. In the Baltic Sea landscape, the average temperature became largely normal, and locally even slightly above normal in the reference years 1961–1990. After a warm end, even the northernmost parts of the country got normal or slightly above normal July temperatures.

Otherwise, it was a cold July, mainly in southwestern Norrland and northwestern Svealand. In a stretch from Värmland up to Jämtland, it was in many places one of the coldest July months of all time, and quite generally the coldest since 1965 in this area, where by the way 1902, 1928 and 1962 are record cold July months. With an average July temperature of 8.7 degrees, Idre Fjäll in northern Dalarna touched the Svealand record for cold July months . If you look at all the stations in Svealand, it was just as cold in July in Storsätern in 1928 and in Grövelsjön in 1962 and 1964, both located slightly further northwest in the Dalafjällen mountains than where Idre is located.

In recent years, parts of the country have had cold July months, most recently in fact last year, but even more so in 2017 and before that 2015. So it is very varied in the country how long since it has been so cold, from 1965, via 1996, 2004, 2007 , 2015 and 2017 until as recently as last year, 2019. To find a warmer July than this year, it is therefore 2019 and even more record heat 2018 that applies, because it may not have fallen into oblivion yet?

In absolute numbers, Öland's northern cape had the warmest in the country in July with an average temperature of 17.3 degrees, which is 0.7 degrees above their normal July temperature of 16.6 degrees. The coldest was Blåhammaren with 5.8 degrees, and there is no normal value as the station has only been in operation since November 2010. The largest surplus compared to normal was Utklippan in Blekinge's outer eastern archipelago with 0.9 degrees when they noted 16.2 degrees against normal 15 , 3 degrees with the previously mentioned Idre mountain had the largest negative deviation with a 2.7 degree deficit, 8.7 degrees against the normal 11.4 degrees.

Many people are probably surprised that the precipitation map for July is not greener than it is, ie has larger areas with rainfall that deviates more from normal. The July weather was unstable, but at the same time cool, which means that you rarely get those really large amounts which means that there can be large surpluses even seen over a whole month. A little rain every day does not automatically mean that there will be larger amounts over time versus a situation with prolonged drought followed by heavy showers. Most of the country had a wetter July than usual, but mainly in southeastern Götaland and also in parts of the mountain world, less rain than normal has fallen in July. On the other hand, more rain than usual was received, mainly in Västerbotten, Norrbotten and northeastern Lapland, as well as in an area around Lake Vänern. In these areas, fairly generally more than doubled the normal amount, and locally in mainly Norrbotten more than three times the normal amount.

Wet and cool often go hand in hand in the summer, so it is not surprising that, for example, the month of July 2015 was similar to the year of July, and even then it was relatively dry in the southeast. For Norrbotten, this year's July is more like 2017, but locally it was even rainier than that and some places even broke records. For stations with at least 100-year measurement series, a new monthly record of 272 mm was set at Jokkmokk Airport in northern Lapland against the previous 204 mm from 2017 . The measurements began in 1861 for the connected series Jokkmokk / Jokkmokk Airport. Almost a hundred years old (start year 1926) is also the measurement series for the connected series Luleå Airport / Luleå-Bergnäset in Norrbotten, and even there this year's July was record wet. Luleå got 196 mm compared to the previous 150 mm from 1997 .

To find a drier July in the country than this year, it is usually enough to go back to last year, ie 2019, or to 2018, a little different depending on where in the country you live.

In millimeters, the just mentioned Jokkmokk airport got 272 mm, which is 307% of their normal July amount of 70 mm while the previously mentioned Hoborg got at least 26 mm, which is 56% of normal 46 mm there. Hoburg also received the least precipitation in the country in terms of percentage of normal, while the just mentioned Luleå airport received the most with 395% when it fell 196 mm there against normal 50 mm.

The sun shone in competition with the temperature. It became quite normal with sunshine time in the Baltic Sea landscape, and on Gotland even sunnier than usual. On the other hand, the sun was in short supply in other parts of the country.

Of the country's few places that measure hours of sunshine, the Swedish Mounds in the northernmost Baltic Sea received the most sun in July with 349 hours, ie slightly more sun than normal 298 hours. The first number of hours of sunshine in the country was in the northern Lapland mountains, where Tarfala only scraped together 99 hours in the whole month against the normal 151 hours. The sun shone brightly the last 24 hours, but it was already too late and needed more than the 11 hours you got then to save yourself from a new anti-sun record. Admittedly, Tarfala's measurement series is short, starting in 2007, but it is still a real refinement of the old record in question. Before, 2012 was the sunniest month of July there with 124 hours.

Solligan in Rapport's 19.30 broadcast on Fridays during the summer is largely based on the July sunshine season, because the competition begins on Midsummer's Eve and then lasts for seven weeks, which this year gives 19 June-6 August. I think I know which place will be announced as the winner there next week when the final result is reported on August 7.

Yes, it has. As it has been unstable weather that has prevailed most of the time, the wind has also been noticeable during the month. But just when it is unstable, it is usually windy as well, so in this way the wind has not been special this July. In addition, you should remember that you remember the wind more when it cools if the air is cool in the summer, than if it cools if the air is warm. If it is windy in hot weather, you simply do not think about the wind in the same way as when it blows as much at lower daytime temperatures. How weather is experienced is not just about actual measured values, because then personal values, hopes and expectations are added and the memory sometimes beautifies or suppresses a weather situation. "It was better before" is far from always true, but since we like to remember positive events more than negative ones, it often happens in the rearview mirror. In addition, the human memory is shorter than many people think, because I often point it out when someone says something like "this cold / heat must have broken records?".

A cool and really unstable start to the month meant that the village wind over the hinterland was most pronounced then, with an opportunity with locally very strong gusts (21–24 m / s):
21 m / s in Såtenäs on the southern shore of Lake Vänern in Västergötland in the evening of 5
and 21 m / s in Eskilstuna in the inner northern Södermanland during the night until the 6th.

The month's highest village wind in the mountains was 28 m / s in Sylarna in Jämtlandsfjällen on the evening of the 18th and for coastal stations the Väderöarna on the northern Bohus coast peaked at 28 m / s in the evening of the 5th. Storm strength in the villages there, while the average wind did not reach storm in July, and it is completely normal to be in the middle of summer. The highest average wind during the month was noted in the Väderöarna just in the evening on the 5th with 23 m / s. As you probably know, the limit for storms is 24.5 m / s.

After this great summary introduction about the cool, sun-poor and rainy July weather, I move on to report the month's weather in a reasonable chronological order day by day:

During the first two weeks of the month, there were only three completely frost-free nights, at least in terms of all the official measuring stations around the country. The night before the 2nd it was at least 0.4 degrees below zero in Västmarkum in eastern Ångermanland. For the short measurement series starting in 1996, it is record cold to be July, but perhaps more interesting is that it is coldest in July in Ångermanland since Norråker had 1.8 degrees below zero on July 10, 1995.

The following night, minus three degrees were noted in Latnivaara just northwest of Gällivare in northern Lapland. It is the lowest in the country in July in just over 40 years, namely since Ljusnedal in western Härjedalen had 3.6 degrees below zero on July 30, 1976. Here it may be appropriate to mention that the Swedish cold record, read in a whole degree when, is 5 minus degrees in the Funäsdalen located near Ljusnedal, both July 22, 1888 and July 14, 1893.

The night before the 5th it was 1.7 degrees below zero in Storlien-Storvallen in the Jämtland mountains, which is the coldest there in July since 1949. The night before the 14th the last "spring frost" was noted for this year, but it only took a little over a week for the first "early frost". On the 24th, cold temperatures were noted in Gustavsfors northeast of Hagfors in Värmland. It became the only frost listing in the country during the second half of July, and also Svealand's only frost listing during the month. In Götaland, no frost was reported during the month of July.

For the different parts of the country it was the coldest in July:
In northern Norrland already mentioned 3.3 degrees below zero in Latnivaara on the 3rd,
in southern Norrland 2.0 degrees below zero in Börtnan in southwestern Jämtland on the 5th,
in Svealand 0.2 degrees below zero in Gustavsfors on the 24th
and in Götaland 1.7 degrees in Hagshult north of Värnamo in inner Småland on the 10th.

Even though there was no frost, extremely cold July nights also occurred in other parts of the country in early July, including Värmland. On the 8th it was at least 2.0 degrees at Karlstad airport, a new cold record for July since the start year 1859. The previous record was 3.5 degrees from July 15, 1902. But then you have to remember that the airport is in a colder place than what the observation inside Karlstad itself made before it was closed down in the autumn of 2008. The 10 then noted Skåne Helsingborg with 6.6 degrees its coldest July night since 1962.

Cold nights and also lack of heat during the day, so it was during the first half of July. For the first 15 days, the temperature did not reach 25 degrees anywhere. It is unusually cold summer heat, and the "worst" was on the 8th. The day's highest temperature in the country even stayed below 20 degrees when Kalmar Airport in Småland topped the temperature list that day with its summery 19.4 degrees. In fact, it is the first time since July 9, 2015 that a July day has lacked 20-degree heat in the country. At that time, the highest in the country was 19.9 degrees in Vittangi in northeastern Lapland. On the 8th it was also a pitiful 9.9 degrees in Stockholm at 14. It is the lowest dinner temperature in the capital in July since it was only 7.8 degrees there on the 15th of July 1977.

Even I, who do not like when it gets over 25 degrees, thought it was not the coolest team during my first holiday week, which was the first whole July week. Several days of rain with about 15 degrees during the day is a bit in the lowest team even for me. After that, the July weather has suited me quite well with a fair mix of sun and heat interspersed with necessary rain so the garden stays nice and the tubers in the country grow.

Cool weather (or chilly maybe you can even pull in?) Thus began the month when rain on rain on rain on rain swept past over the country. The air pressure was on two occasions extremely low for being in July. On the 1st, 981.0 hPa was noted in Haparanda at the Finnish border in Norrbotten, a value that was then touched in Sveg in Härjedalen on the 6th. It is lowest in July since Malmberget just north of Gällivare in northern Lapland had 980.7 hPa on the 10th of July. 1958, and the Swedish July record for low air pressure is 977.1 hPa and is set in Ulricehamn in Västergötland on July 9, 1931. It feels safe to know, or perhaps rather printed to know…?

Rain on rain on rain on rain started the month, so during the first ten days it fell at least 25 mm in at least some place in the country every day. Sometimes more than that, which is reported here with all official observations of 40 mm or more in a day that were reported during the first half of the month:
55 mm in Moskosel-Abmohed north of Arvidsjaur in central Lapland on 3,
54 mm in Vidsel on 3,
42 mm in Lidhult in western Småland on 4,
41 mm in Marbäck south of Ulricehamn in Västergötland on 4,
48 mm in Härsnäs in the southeast of Mjölby in Östergötland on 10,
41 mm in Norra Vi in southernmost Östergötland on 10
and 46 mm in Västgötland Vinga outside Gothenburg on the 14th.

It also thundered occasionally, but because the air was cool, there were rarely any huge thunderstorms. Most thunder does not come when it is cool and generally unstable, but usually at the end of heat waves when heat and moisture accumulate in ground-level air layers at the same time as colder and drier air has begun to reach into higher air layers. Then you get the vertical contrast in humidity and temperature that is optimal for creating powerful rain and thunderstorms. Therefore, the 11th of July was the thinnest day of the first half of July, albeit with an unimpressive over 1,200 flashes. Two more thunderstorm days would come later in the month, but more on that a little later in this chronicle.

During the second half of July, the temperature varied more around normal. Warm and cool periods took turns as rain and showers continued to flow in from the southwest. The first reasonably warm day of the month came on the 16th when the temperature for the first time during the month climbed up to high summer heat, ie 25 degrees or more. It was the beginning of a six-day suite with at least 25-degree heat in at least one place in the country every day. However, the peak was shelled, only 28.2 degrees in Skåne Lund on the 19th. However, it is only two years ago that July offered an even lower maximum listing, then with 27.2 degrees in Rörastrand in on Tjörn by the Bohus coast on 20 July 2017. Speaking of the cool month of July 2017, it can be mentioned that we then had at least 25 degrees at least somewhere in the country during 15 of the month's 31 days, while this year it was only 9 high summer hot days all in all. In addition to the just-mentioned six-day suite on 16-21, the temperature also reached the 25-degree mark on 26 and 28 and 31.

After all, it was high summer hot as at most in July in all four parts of the country:
in Götaland already mentioned 28.2 degrees in Lund on the 19th,
in Svealand 27.3 degrees in Stockholm on the 19th,
in southern Norrland 27.3 degrees in Hudiksvall on the Hälsinge coast on 17
and in northern Norrland 25.3 in Vidsel on 17.

The unimpressive "mini wave" was interrupted when cool air and rain and thunderstorms took over from the west. Slightly already on the 19th and even further east on the 20th to be almost completely pushed away from the country by the 21st. I wrote earlier that moisture and temperature contrasts provide good conditions for thunder, and the month's thinnest day was also the 20th when the cool air advanced east over large parts of the country. At the forefront of the border to the heat, rain and thunderstorms formed which together meant that just over 2,800 lightning strikes were registered that day, most in a band straight north-south from Gästrikland to western Södermanland. Another day with over a thousand registered lightning strikes took place in July, more precisely on the 28th with just under 1,300, and thus the month's second thunderstorm day.

The most thriving day of the year so far has thus continued on June 2 with just over 6,100 lightning strikes. May see what August has to offer in terms of thunder, but quite often there can be quite a lot of thunder in August. Not least evenings and nights with humid air and residual heat from the day with cooling of the cloud peaks in the increasingly longer nights that become week after week.

Thunder was certainly involved in the torrential rains that struck in places just on the 20th. For example, Mora in Dalarna got 11 mm in a quarter (12.45–13.00) and Gunnarn southeast of Storuman in southern Lapland 25 mm in one hour at . (13-14). To be classified as a downpour, it should fall 1 mm per minute, but it is rare to do so for a longer period, as you can count on it being at least briefly downpour in Mora and Gunnarn that day.

On the 21st, there were still some remnants of the heat left in northeastern Norrland, and that was perhaps why the showers that then baked themselves into a more coherent rain increased in strength again. In addition, the rain swung south again and gave large amounts for two days over mainly Norrbotten and northeastern Lapland, including the month's largest official daily amount. Here are all notes of 40 mm or more in one day during the final days of the month, after the "mini wave":
51 mm in Multrå in inner southern Ångermanland on 20,
50 mm in Gunnarn on 20,
72 mm in Jarhois south of Pajala on the Finnish border in Norrbotten on the 22nd (the month's largest daily precipitation in the country),
63 mm in Pajala on the 22nd,
49 mm in Vidsel on the 22,
48 mm in Tärendö a bit west of Pajala on the 22nd,
68 mm in Kalix on the Norrbotten coast on the 23,
41 mm on Luleå Airport on the 23rd,
42 mm in Kävsjö northwest of Värnamo in Småland on the 24th
and 42 mm in Kristianstad in northeastern Skåne on the 26th.

The latter two observations are not related to the rain from the north on 22–23, but came in connection with new partly heavy rains that the following days swept in from the southwest.

Heavy rain for two days over a fairly large area in Norrbotten and northern Lapland caused the flows to rise again. On the 23rd, a warning was therefore issued for high flows in the Torne River from Torneträsk down to the confluence with the Lainio River. From the 30th, the warning was changed to apply to Junosuando, and remained so for the rest of the month. In addition, it was warned on 23-29 of high flows in the Tärendö River.

It was in the same areas that the month also began with remaining flow warnings from June. The last warning was then removed on the 8th, so it was at least two warning-free weeks for Torneälven.

During the final days of July, it was a little warmer air over us again, but when it was unstable at the same time, the daytime temperature was kept down in different parts of the country during different days. To everyone's delight, or at least to the delight of very many, July ended with a taste of stable and warm summer weather on the last day of the month. For the first time, Gothenburg got hot in high summer in July when it topped the temperature list in the country on July 31 with 25.7 degrees. The day on the 31st was also the warmest day in July in Gothenburg, so "those who are waiting for something good" had to wait there until the last day of the month.

However, the heat established itself fairly generally in northernmost Sweden, and it was so hot that Tarfala managed to get together for two hot summer days in July, the 30th and the 31st. At the end of June, only the most inaccessible parts of northern Lapland mountains as per definition still had meteorological spring. For it to be summer, a daily average temperature of at least 10 degrees is required for five days in a row. Among the country's official measuring stations, only Tarfala did not manage to get summer in connection with the heat wave at the end of June. Admittedly, they had five hot summer days in June, but not in a row but spread out on 18, 21, 22, 23 and 29 June. In July, you had to wait until the 30th to get your first hot summer day. The 31st was also hot in the summer, so now August would start with three hot summer days, then the summer arrived on the 30th of July. However, I will only have the answer to that in a few days. But it's really on the hair, because the forecast points to around 10 degrees for them on average now the day 1-3 August.

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