Autumn arrives in Sweden; one location skipped summer

Autumn has officially arrived in several parts of Sweden, according to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). For some regions, particularly in the mountain ranges north of Dalarna, the season has been in effect since the beginning of August. The meteorological definition of autumn is met when the average daily temperature remains at 10 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days.

“

Parts of the fjälls usually get autumn now during August. Parts of Dalarna and Jämtland have had single days with autumn temperatures, 10 degrees, but it must be five days in a row for it to be autumn.

Meteorologist Henrik Reimer noted that while parts of the mountains typically see autumn arrive in August, some areas in Dalarna and Jämtland have only experienced brief periods of autumn temperatures. "It must be five days in a row for it to be autumn," he explained.

Notably, the Tarfaladalen valley, located east of Kebnekaise, did not experience a summer this year. "What might stand out a bit is that Tarfala never got summer. They had spring right up until now when they got autumn," Reimer stated. Summer is defined as five consecutive days with an average daily temperature of 10 degrees Celsius or higher, a threshold the Tarfala station never reached.

“

What might stand out a bit is that Tarfala never got summer. They had spring right up until now when they got autumn.

While climate change generally leads to autumn arriving somewhat later in certain parts of the country compared to the 1961-1990 baseline, with Skåne and the west coast now seeing autumn about five days later, the experience in Tarfaladalen highlights a more extreme deviation from the norm.

“

Summer means a daily average temperature of ten degrees or higher, five days in a row. And the station in Tarfala never had that during the entire summer.