File:Scandinavia (MODIS 2021-02-27).jpg

English: A warm spell over Sweden brought an early spring to the region in February 2021. According to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), spring officially arrived in Sweden on February 16. The spring arrival date is defined as the first day of seven with spring temperatures—daily mean temperature above 0.0˚C (32˚F) and it must not be earlier than February 16. This means that spring arrived in Scandinavia almost as early as possible.

Spring didn’t sneak in, either, with temperatures just slightly warm. It rode in on a heat wave. On February 25, Kalmar airport recorded a high of 17˚C (62.6˚F)—the hottest day ever recorded in Sweden in February. That same day, Helsinki, Finland reached 8.3˚C (47˚F) and on February 26, the temperature topped 10˚C (50˚F). While not record-setting both are substantially higher than average for the dates.

On February 26, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the changing seasons on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Despite the warmth, snow remains across the region, especially in the higher elevations and in the north. Norway sits on the western section of the Peninsula, with Sweden occupying the eastern side. Finland sits across the Gulf of Bothnia from Sweden, with the northwestern section curving onto the Scandinavian Peninsula. A layer of ice floats on the northern section of the Gulf of Bothnia.