cold?

Kangasniemi - and Penttilä in particular - are situated in between Jyväskylä and Mikkeli, about 300 km up north from Helsinki. Overall conditions during the year for this region are ruled by a continental climate, in contrast with Sweden and Norway, which means cold winters and warm summers. In general it is rather dry, except in April and November. The micro (local) meteo differs from this climate because the great lakes south of the line Jyväskylä-Mikkeli (Päijänne and Puula) generate a remarkable impact. The winters become less severe and big amounts of snow are assured. The summers will be rather warm, if there is a moderate wind coming from East/ South-East / South. Especially the water in the lakes will be warmed up quickly and combined with this wind, the warmed-up surface water will generate a warm upper stream into the numerous bays, forcing the cold under stream to leave the bay. This results in water temperatures between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius. Another phenomenon is the fact that sudden showers, if they occur, never last very long. After a few hours the sun is shining again and, even if huge amounts of rain have been falling, the soil dries up very fast. This is caused by the peculiar structure of the ground here: rocks with cracks and ruptures, covered with hardly half a meter sandy soil. As a result of this, the humidity in the air after a rain shower diminishes quite fast.