May Weather at Sodankylä Airfield Finland

Daily high temperatures increase by 12°F, from 43°F to 55°F, rarely falling below 34°F or exceeding 70°F.

Daily low temperatures increase by 12°F, from 27°F to 39°F, rarely falling below 16°F or exceeding 47°F.

For reference, on July 21, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Sodankylä Airfield typically range from 49°F to 66°F, while on January 25, the coldest day of the year, they range from -1°F to 15°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on May. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Bethel, United States (3,574 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Sodankylä Airfield (view comparison).

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The month of May at Sodankylä Airfield experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 67% to 57%.

The clearest day of the month is May 31, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 43% of the time.

For reference, on January 2, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 86%, while on July 20, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 48%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Sodankylä Airfield, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is very rapidly increasing, starting the month at 23% and ending it at 32%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 37% on July 13, and its lowest chance is 13% on March 3.

Over the course of May at Sodankylä Airfield, the chance of a day with only rain increases from 16% to 31%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain decreases from 4% to 1%, and the chance of a day with only snow decreases from 3% to 0%.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during May at Sodankylä Airfield is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 1.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.1 inches or falls below 0.5 inches, and ending the month at 2.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.5 inches or falls below 0.9 inches.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during May at Sodankylä Airfield is decreasing, starting the month at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 7.2 inches or falls below 0.1 inches, and ending the month at 0.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.5 inches.

Due to its extreme latitude, Sodankylä Airfield experiences polar day (also known as the midnight Sun) during the summer and polar night during the winter. These are periods of time in which the sun is continuously above or below the horizon for more than one day. The precise start and end dates of polar day and night vary from year to year and depend on the precise location and elevation of the observer, and the local topography.

In the summer at Sodankylä Airfield during 2024, the Sun is continuously above the horizon for 1.5 months, rising at 1:33 AM on May 29, and not setting again until 12:55 AM on July 14. As such, polar day begins in May and lasts beyond the end of the month.

The shortest day of the month is May 1, with 17 hours, 53 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the month at Sodankylä Airfield is 4:15 AM on May 1 and the earliest sunrise is 2 hours, 42 minutes earlier at 1:33 AM on May 29.

The earliest sunset is 10:08 PM on May 1 and the latest sunset is 2 hours, 39 minutes later at 12:47 AM on May 28.

Daylight saving time is observed at Sodankylä Airfield during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during May, so the entire month is in standard time.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for May 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy at Sodankylä Airfield is essentially constant during May, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on July 14, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed at Sodankylä Airfield is essentially constant during May, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 5.1 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on March 7, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.6 miles per hour, while on August 9, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 4.0 miles per hour.

The wind direction at Sodankylä Airfield during May is predominantly out of the south from May 1 to May 19 and the north from May 19 to May 31.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season at Sodankylä Airfield typically lasts for 3.0 months (93 days), from around May 27 to around August 27, rarely starting before May 8 or after June 13, and rarely ending before August 9 or after September 16.

During May at Sodankylä Airfield, the chance that a given day is within the growing season is very rapidly increasing rising from 4% to 62% over the course of the month.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days at Sodankylä Airfield are gradually increasing during May, increasing by 46°F, from 3°F to 49°F, over the course of the month.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy at Sodankylä Airfield is increasing during May, rising by 1.2 kWh, from 3.9 kWh to 5.1 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Sodankylä Airfield are 67.395 deg latitude, 26.619 deg longitude, and 597 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Sodankylä Airfield contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 197 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 603 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (610 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,598 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Sodankylä Airfield is covered by trees (69%), artificial surfaces (15%), and herbaceous vegetation (12%), within 10 miles by trees (83%) and herbaceous vegetation (13%), and within 50 miles by trees (80%) and herbaceous vegetation (15%).