This also happened in 2017, but also in 2023. In a commune near Iass, the snow cover exceeded 50 cm in April, although we are not talking about a high-altitude area. Barnova, a commune located in a forest zone, sometimes has much more snow in the spring than Predyal or Sinaia. On Friday morning, the thickness of the snow cover was 55 cm.

Barnova, a place with an ancient history, with forests and a monastery

Barnova has more than 7,000 inhabitants, includes several villages and districts with the lowest altitude below 200 m, and the highest – at an altitude of 400 m. The weather station is located at an altitude of 396 m above sea level.

The history of the commune is connected with forests, and the chronicles write that there was a dense forest in this area, and a part of the forest, south of Iass, after 1628 was named Kodri Bjarnova.

Snow cover map for the morning of April 6, 2023 (source ANM)

The commune is located in an area with meadows, pastures and forests of oak, beech and gorun. Unfortunately, deforestation has also taken place in the area in recent years.

Geographically, Bârnova (sometimes spelled Bîrnova) is located at the junction of the Moldavian Plain with the Central Moldavian Plateau, and the vegetation is varied because the altitude also varies quite a lot.

Barnova is a special place in terms of climate. On April 21, 2017, 59 cm of snow was measured at the weather station in the commune of Yese, and this month there were six consecutive days with a layer of snow. In the winter months, the thickness of the snow reaches 70 cm, but the weather station has been operating only since 2003, so there is no long-term historical data.

On the morning of April 6, 2023, at the weather station in the commune of Barnova, a few kilometers from Iasi, the thickness of the snow layer reached 57 cm, which is not small for the month of April. In Iasi, they were 35 cm, in Kotnar – 39 cm, in Daraban – 32 cm. On April 7, the height of the snow cover was 55 cm in Barnov, 35 cm in Kotnar and 27 cm in Iasi, according to ANM data.

On April 5, 2023, a day when the snow cover was steadily increasing, the minimum temperature was -2.6 C in Barnov and the maximum was -1.5 C. On Thursday, when the snow cover remained at a level of more than 55 cm, the temperature was in between -1.8 C and +0.2.

Although the snow cover is stable, it has every chance to disappear in a few days, especially since it will be plus 10 degrees.

The first documentary evidence of the existence of human settlements in these territories appears together with the first evidence of the founding of a monastery. You can read more about Bârnova here.

The first Moldavian ruler who founded a wooden church in these places was the ruler Ieremia Movila in 1603.

Later, the Barnovsky Monastery, dedicated to St. George, founded by the ruler of Moldova, Myron Barnovsky, was built in its place. It is documented on November 5, 1628. It was completed during the reign of Eustace Dabia Vaudet (1661-1665), when it was raised to vaults. The towers were built for defensive purposes.

Bârnova vs Iasi – Short distance, constant weather differences

In Barnov, the average annual snow cover is 40% higher than in Iasi, and in normal years the highest snow cover occurs in February. The Iasi weather station is located at an altitude of 102 m, almost 300 m lower than Barnova.

In 2017, when there was 59 cm of snow in Barnov, there was only 19 cm of snow in Iasi. In the Iasi area, April was unusually cold in 1997, 1981 and 1982. 2016, 2000 and 2018 were very warm. Among the late snowfalls in Iasi are snowfalls on April 21, 1997, when a layer of snow.

In Iasi, the absolute minimum for April was registered in 1963 (-9.4 C). Absolute maximum +31.8 C on April 30, 2013. It was a very cold morning on April 1, 2020: a minimum of -5.9 C.

The average annual temperature in Barnov is 1.5 C lower than in Iasi, where the altitude is much lower. The average annual temperature in the warmest years exceeded +10 degrees. The average long-term indicator is -3.7 C for January.

The lowest temperature recorded in Barnov was -26.2 C in January 2006.

In Barnov, the weather station has been operating only since 2003, and the absolute minimum for April was recorded in 2005: -4.6 C. The absolute maximum was +29 C, recorded in April 2012 and 2013. It can be seen that in Iasi, the maximum absolute temperature is almost 3 degrees higher than in Barnov. On April 1, 2005, Iasi was also cold: -5.1 C. In the warmest night, the minimum temperature did not fall below 14 degrees in Iasi in April.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com