The Romanian pole of rain and snow is the mountain resort of Stana de Vale, located in the Apuseni Mountains. It receives on average almost three times more rain than Bucharest and six times more than Sulin, the place with the least amount of rain. What are Stâna de Vale’s records? Why is it such a wet place and what is the history of the resort in Bihor.

The pole fell

There are many places with extreme weather in the country: Omu Peak is the weather station with the lowest average temperature, Mercuria Chouk and Intorsura Bouzeului often bring the coldest temperatures, and Calafat is a city where summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees. . Drobeta-Turnu-Severin is the city with the highest average annual temperature in the country.

Much less well known is the ‘Precipitation Pole’, which averages over 160 days of rain and snow per year and has monthly rainfall records that remind you of places in monsoon India. For example, in July 1980 the rainfall exceeded 500 mm, which is how much rain falls in Bucharest in ten months of a normal year.

Stâna de Vale Resort is located on Valea Iadului, on the western slope of the Apuseni Mountains, in the southern part of the Vlădeasa Mountains. No weather station in the country receives so much precipitation – more than 1,600 mm/year – and this is due to the height above sea level of 1,100 m, and also because the masses of moist and cold oceanic air come from the west. A lot of snow falls in winter, the advantage of the resort is that it is located in a lowland.

• Romania and the history of less and less snow – How the number of days with snow has decreased, from the mountains to the sea

Summers are cool, and winters can bring more than 3 meters of snow. The most recent example with high snow cover was in January 2019: 140 cm at the resort and 185 cm at 1370 m. In three exceptional years, May had more than ten days with snow cover: 1982, 1997 and 2000.

Stâna de Vale, a brief history

Stâna de Vale was founded by the Greek Catholic bishop of Oradea Mihai Pavel at the end of the 19th century. Arriving from the Padish, the hierarch took refuge in a stable and was struck by the valley that opened nearby, hence the name of the place. In 1883, by his order, the first hotel “Siberia” in this area was built. Only a year later, the first Elisabeta restaurant was opened.

A few years later, the area was connected by a road with the nearest village of Buduryasa. Budureasa is famous for its dowry boxes. Stâna de Vale opened to the public on June 1, 1890 and attracted the attention of important people: bankers, lawyers, notaries, civil servants.

Being close to Oradea and Cluj, the fame of the resort grew, guests from Budapest also came. The resort flourished in the 1930s. Weather observations began in 1936 at the initiative of Cluj University.

During communist times, the resort was famous for its pioneer camp, hiking and camping. Stan de Valais was defined as a “permanent high altitude climate resort” and a tourist guide in 1970 spoke of winters with abundant snow and a ski season from December to March.

The history of the wettest summers and records that have stood for almost 140 years

The tourist guide wrote that the resort “enjoys a settlement of magical beauty” (!) and talked about the healing factors: climate, low atmospheric pressure, with intense ultraviolet radiation and strong ionization.

The resort is small and there are not many places for recreation, but there are many tourist routes. Nearby you can visit places such as Mesiades Cave and Moara Drakului Waterfall. Stana de Vale is part of the commune of Budureas, and the nearest town is Beiuch.

In recent years, the slope has been modernized, but the total number of days with snow cover was less, and the maximum height of the slope is below 1200 m, which is much lower than other mountain resorts from us, where the snow lasts for a long time.

Temperatures can be high in the spring, and the ski season can’t be long. For example, April 2014, 2016, and 2020 saw a total of just eight days with snow, while the 1980s had several winters where snow lasted into April.

Earlier, when winters were colder, the snow cover lasted six months of the year, until mid-April. The record was the winter of 1981 – 1982, when the snow lasted continuously for almost six months, from November to May.

In recent years, the number of snow days has averaged more than 10% fewer than in the 1980s, when winters were more severe. The year 2020 gives an idea of ​​what future winters might be like, when there were only three days with snow in April (with highs above +17 C) and only nine days in December (with highs above +11 C) .

Stan de Vale and weather records

Stana de Vale has the highest long-term average rainfall in the country at 1,631 mm, almost three times that of Bucharest and six times that of Sulin (268 mm), the place with the lowest rainfall.

In Stana de Vale, the most rain falls in June (over 192 mm on average) and July (160 mm). In one month, the average is less than 100 mm (February, 89 mm). It rains more in the warm season, and the seasons have the most precipitation in summer (almost 500 mm) and the least in winter (366 mm).

The surroundings of the weather station are mainly occupied by coniferous and beech forests, with small parts of grassy vegetation typical of mountain meadows.

Stan de Weil and extreme temperatures

The average long-term temperature is 4.4°С. There have been significant fluctuations over the years: for example, the average temperature was +3.2 C in 1997 and +6.2 C in 2019.

The absolute maximum temperature of +32.7°C was recorded in August 2017

The absolute minimum temperature of -28.9°C was recorded in January 1987

Sten de Weil and rainfall records

On average, there are more than 160 days with rain or snow in a year. In 2015, there were only 128 such days, and in 1996 – 211 days.

The year with the most precipitation: 1980, with 2370 mm

Second year: 1995, 2221 mm

The year with the least amount of precipitation: 1953, 1145 mm

Rainiest month: July 1980 with 519.1 mm

Second wettest month: August 2002: 449.7 mm

Last monthly record: June 2021, 392.4 mm

The last monthly record was broken: 399.6 mm in September 2022, three times the normal

Rainfall records for 24 hours

181.6 mm on May 18, 2021

137.6 mm on December 24, 1995

Wall of Valais and snow cover

1979-2022: 150 days/year

1991-2020: 150 days/year

2013-2022: 136 days/year

The heavy snow period of 1980-1988, 155 days/year

Most days with snow: 188 in 1997 and 185 in 2006

Fewest days with snow cover: 89 in 2014 and 101 in 1990

The maximum thickness of the snow cover was 308 cm and was recorded in the winter of 2001.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com