Early autumn: Berry season and Sunsets

Golden cloudberries ripen around mid-July. Timescale for picking them up is quite short as the best harvest season lasts usually only two to three weeks. While wandering through the cloudberry swamps, it is possible to pick up bilberries as well. Harvest season for bilberries lasts longer, even to the beginning of September. When hunting lingonberries, the best time to go to the forest is after bilberry season. Cranberries can be found from the end of September to the first snow.

August 12.3 °C Hours of sun 1.8. 18:38

Autumn: Mushrooms and autumn foliage

Part of mushrooms can be found already in the summer but after the autumn rain and bright colours of red and yellow, you know that the season has changed and it is time to search for the mushroom basket and head out to the forest. Different boletuses, milk-caps and brittle-gills can be found in Ranua area.
Colourful leaves on the ground may complicate spotting the mushrooms. During the autumn foliage it sometimes looks like the trees and the leaves on the ground shine at their own. Deciduous trees dress up to yellow and orange and the forest ground covers up by different reds.

September 6.7 °C Hours of sun 1.9. 14:48

Early winter: Hibernation and First snow

First snow falls usually in the turn of October and November but melts away due to the short warmer period. North wind, cold nights and the change of rain to frost depicts the move forward on a yearly cycle. Migratory birds head to south, so look up to the sky – it is possible to see impressive wedges of cranes. Bears retreat to hibernate. Ground starts to freeze and the shores look like natural lace as the ice takes over. Early winter is great time for the two kinds of people. To those, who enjoy the dark nights while the flickering light of fire-place plays and the warmth of blanket protects against the cold, there is no better time to dress up to the wool socks and curl up to the corner of the sofa with a cup of warm tea. And, for those, who are invited out by the frost, this time provides possibility to experience the nature in solitude when the berry and mushroom pickers rest.

Reindeers are gathered to the winter yards for feeding. At the reindeer round-ups, the calves of last summer are marked for the owners of the dams.

October 1.0 °C Hours of sun 1.10. 11:18
November -4.8. °C Hours of sun 1.11. 7:38

Päivän pituus 1.10. 11:18 h

Päivän pituus 1.11. 7:38 h

Winter: Silence and Northern Lights

In Ranua, it is always possible to get outside the reach of human-made sounds. In winter time the silence is emphasized as the snowbanks muzzles the sounds and the nature is asleep. Only the dance of the northern lights in the sky, the grating sound of ones steps on the snow and the small tracks of animals from one tree to another reminds that the time has not completely stopped. Northern lights can be seen from autumn to spring, when the nights are dark enough. In the winter nights, the sky is often clear and the snow reflects the light of the moon so well that aurora-hunters can go around without extra light. Reindeers are spending their winters at farms and thus can be met there.

December -11.0 °C Hours of sun 1.12. 4:08, Winter Solstice 22.12. 2:51
January -12.9 °C Hours of sun 1.1. 3:16

Early Spring: Ice-fishing and crust of snow

Vast icy lakes and swamps almost demand you to put on your skis and head out to adventures on the hard cover of snow. Morning sun wakes you up earlier day by day and when leaving at dawn, you might be the first rover on the fresh snow. Skis and snow-shoes can take you anywhere – absolute freedom. The hard crust of snow allows you to search new spots for ice-fishing and in the warmth of the spring sun; this habit of northern natives becomes joyful entertainment for first-timers as well. During the spring time, the white snow reflects sun light efficiently, so sunglasses and sunscreen are needed. Spring time brings freedom also for reindeers, as there is typically so much snow that the reindeers can escape from their keeps.

February -13.2 °C Hours of sun 1.2. 6:36
March -8.5 °C Hours of sun 1.3. 10:00

Spring: Nature’s awakening and ice run

The concept of time changes in the spring. Days get longer and nature changes with exhilarating rate. It seems that the increase of light also brings more hours to the day. Bears and other animals wake up and birds come back to their nesting areas. Scenery changes every day, and what was a frozen river yesterday, can now be an impressive rapid. Ice run is often dignified natural spectacle, when the ice builds up to dams which then ravel out to the stream with great rumble. It is possible to find cranberries under the melting snow.

April -1.4 °C Hours of sun 1.4. 13:40

Early Summer: Spring sowing and reindeer calves

When the days turn warmer, true bustle begins. Ranua is surrounded with countryside and different farms, which are busy with sowing and cattle gambolling to fields. Growing season in Lapland is quite short so when the right conditions arrive, there is no time to loose. Reindeers, on their behalf, are busy with calving. Usually new reindeers are born in May. Calves are nimble and they follow their dams on the swamps and in the forests. Reindeers are freed from their keeps in the beginning of May.

May 5.3 °C Hours of sun 1.5. 17:19

Summer: Midnight sun and insect season “Räkkä”

Midnight sun and nightless night are unique features of light in Lapland. In Finland, the Midsummer is celebrated in June and the summer residents start to move to the cabins to enjoy the summer light. The season of nightless night in Ranua lasts about three weeks in June. 24 hours of sunlight affects berries in a very special way as the sun formulates the sugar of berries. Finnish berries are famous for their sweetness. Usually after Midsummer, begins the worst insect season, Räkkä. Reindeers gather together to open areas, such as roads, to escape the insects. During this season, it is advised to wear proper protection, such as insect repellent and covering clothes when going out to the nature.

June 11.9 °C Hours of sun 1.6. 21:28, Midsummer 24
July 14.0 °C Hours of sun 1.7. 23:05