Student: Carmen Bratu

Climate of Romania

Because of its position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate which ranges from temperate to continental. Climatic conditions are somewhat modified by the country's varied topography. The Carpathians serve as a barrier to Atlantic air masses, limiting their oceanic influences to the west and center of the country (Transylvania, Banat and Maramureș), which have milder winters and heavier rainfalls as a result. The mountains also block the continental influences of the vast plain to the north in the Ukraine, which results in frosty winters and less rain to the south and southeast. In the extreme southeast, Black Sea influences offer a milder, maritime climate. The average annual temperature is 11 °C in the south and middle-south and 8 °C in northeast.

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Rainfall, although adequate throughout the country, decreases from west to east and from mountains to plains. Some mountainous areas receive more than 1,010 mm of precipitation each year. Annual precipitation averages about 635 mm in central Transylvania, 521 mm at Iaşi in Moldavia, and only 381 mm at Constanţa, on the Black Sea.

Records

The absolute minimum temperature was −38.5 °C, registered near Brașov in 1942. The absolute maximum temperature was 44.5 °C, recorded at Ion Sion, Brăila County in 1951.

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Iași climate

Iași is one of the largest cities and municipalities in Romania. Located in the Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life.

Iași has a humid, continental-type climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding 32 °C while winters are cold and windy with moderate snowfall and temperatures at night sometimes dropping below −10 °C. Average monthly precipitation ranges from about 25 mm in October to 100 mm in June.

Weather in Iasi is mainly characterized by a continental climate, which means that summers are dry and hot and winters are cold.

Iasi climate is temperate continental with an annual average temperature of 10-11 ° C, western and southern influences explain why the autumns are long and hot and also some mild winter days or some early spring. This moderately continental climate shows some differences in air temperature, specific to big cities, caused by overheating of the street, burning fuel, radiation exerted by the walls of buildings, etc. Generally, winters are cold with heavy snow, often accompanied by storms.

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Lowest monthly mean temperature is recorded in January, with an average of -3 ° C. During summer is very hot, the average temperature in July is 23 ° C, sometimes even reaches 35-40 ° C. Amid the general climate variations, specific to the region, we can talk about a number of changes in local heat, generated by the structure and functioning of the city, pointing out some differences between the climate specific of the territory built and the one of its outer zones.

Also, some differences can be noticed in what concerns the absolute extreme temperature values. Thus, it is clear the role of "heat island" that Iasi plays in relation to its surroundings. Regarding the freezing, the average date of first frost occurrence is situated on 1 November, and the last frost on April 3, the average is 90-100 days. Instead, summer records, on annual average, about 46 tropical days with maximum temperatures above 30 ° C.

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Winds Generally, the city and its surrounding areas, circled by forests have a normal circulation of air masses, particularly favorable for maintaining a relatively stable atmosphere. The dominant winds, felt in all seasons, are the ones from East (21.2%), followed by the West (16.3%), Northeast (14.2%) and Southwest (11.2%). Frequency atmospheric calm is 18.9%. With regard to their speed, the highest annual average is registered by northeast winds (2.4 m/s), followed by the East and West (2.3 m/s). The number of days with strong winds (above 16 m/s) is approximately 14 per year. As in the case of the temperature, wind analysis reveals the same differences between the built and its outer perimeter. The barrier role that the city buildings have makes possible calm situations to have a frequency of two times higher than the peripheral area.

The average daily wind speed in December has been around 11 km/h, that’s the equivalent to about 7 mph, or 6 knots. In recent years the maximum sustained wind speed has reached 91 km/h, that’s the equivalent of around 56 mph, or 49 knots.

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Over the course of the year typical wind speeds vary from 0 m/s to 7 m/s (calm to moderate breeze), rarely exceeding 10 m/s (fresh breeze).

The highest average wind speed of 4 m/s (gentle breeze) occurs around April 5, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 7 m/s (moderate breeze).

The lowest average wind speed of 2 m/s (light breeze) occurs around August 10, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 5 m/s (gentle breeze).

The wind is most often out of the east (15% of the time), north west (13% of the time), and west (11% of the time). The wind is least often out of the north east (3% of the time), south west (5% of the time), south east (5% of the time), and south (5% of the time).

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Precipitation

Rainfall is low, on average 585 mm per year, but higher flow summer: the largest average monthly amount of precipitation are falling in June (about 70 mm) and the lowest in March (15 mm). On average, within Iasi territory, precipitation falls in 117 days / year. The relief differentiation, nature and peculiarities that urban construction have imprinted on land surface are leading up to the following three types of microclimates:

the one of the central area of the city, under the direct influence of urban construction density, where temperatures are higher, atmospheric calm and nebulosity have a higher frequency;

the microclimate of industrial areas where mists and rain showers forms occur more frequently due to air impurities;

the microclimate of peripheral residential areas that closely resembles natural microclimates outside the city, characterized by a stronger winds and cooler temperatures.

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Humidity

The relative humidity typically ranges from 43% (comfortable) to 99% (very humid) over the course of the year, rarely dropping below 25% (dry) and reaching as high as 100% (very humid).

The air is driest around May 6, at which time the relative humidity drops below 50% (mildly humid) three days out of four; it is most humid around November 27, exceeding 100% (very humid) three days out of four.

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Bibliography

www.hko.gov.hk www.inmh.ro www.meteomoldova.ro www.meteoromania.ro wow.metoffice.gov.uk/gallery www.vremea-iasi.ro/clima www.weather-and-climate.com www.weatherbase.com www.weatherspark.com www.wikipedia.org