looduskalender.ee

In the beginning of the week (29.03) we were left at the edge of a depression, coming from Finland and disappearing towards north-east; in it snow slush fell between showers of rain, and gusts of south-easterly winds reached 14 m/s. During the day the southerly wind fell off and before the next rain there were bright spells.

 

On Tuesday (30.03) a high pressure ridge reached from Russia over Estonia and brought clearer and colder weather. The nights (29.-30.03) were between 0 - +2 °C , in daytime on the cloudier Monday the air temperature rose to +1 - +10, and on the brighter Tuesday to +3  - +12 °C. 

 

On Wednesday (31.03) the wind turned easterly (9 - 11 m/s) and from Latvia a low pressure trough approached with more humid and clearly warmer air. The minimum of the week was recorded just before the warmth arrived, at Kuusiku: -2,5 °C. During the day the trough spread together with slight rain rapidly across Estonia to Finland and the sun that appeared in the afternoon raised the air temperature in south Estonia to 16 °C.

 

On Thursday (1. 04) we were in the so called hot sector of a depression reaching in from Scandinavia, where a warm SE wind blew and left the air temperatures on the plus side (0..+6 °C) even during the night. The day turned out warmer than the previous in Tartu, Võru and Valga: up to +16,4 °C (maximum of the week). In the afternoon rain arrived in the islands, and spread to the mainland in the evening; after the rain the wind that turned to westerly again carried back colder air into Estonia. 

 

The Easter holiday (2.- 4.04) were quite rainy and foggy in Estonia, since we were left in the path of a low pressure area moving from Belorussia across the Baltic counties towards north. In the islands there however bright moments on Friday (2.04) as well as on Saturday (3.04) thanks to a narrow high pressure belt reaching in from the sea. On Sunday (4.04) however the sun was allowed to show by a high pressure ridge that stretched from Russia in over south Estonia. Air temperature fell to near 0 °C during nighttime. In SE Estonia temperature stayed at around 5 degrees of warmth, daytime brought warmth to SW Estonia, at 1 - .4, in E Estonia 10 - 12 °C.

 

Snow situation

Snow cover thickness on 05.04.2010 at 08:00

Ice situation

The ice broke up and the water level in rivers and lakes rose rapidly. The current state of the Emajõgi for instance is described here: http://www.emhi.ee/?ide=9,1276,1300

The ice thickness in Väinameri was 20-35 cm at the coasts of the islands as well as the mainland, and in the Pärnu Bay in places even up to 20-35 cm. Along Saaremaa, Kihnu and Ruhnu 15-25 cm of ice was measured.

In the central part of the Gulf of Finland very open pack ice could be seen in places, part of the ice cover was already gone.