Romania is facing a period of intense winter weather, with current temperatures among the lowest of the season and notable snowfall, especially in mountainous regions. The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) has been tracking these conditions, compiling data on recent record lows and snow accumulation [[1]]. This report examines recent snowfall and temperature records, offering a past context to the current cold snap and highlighting regional variations in winter conditions across the country.
Peisaj de iarna la Balea Lac (sursa foto Gabirosca, Dreamstime.com)
Romania is currently experiencing some of its coldest temperatures of the winter, with more sub-zero conditions and snow depths exceeding 1.5 meters in the mountains. The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) has released data detailing record lows and snowfall totals for January in recent years.
Snowfall Records for January
The deepest snowpack measured in January anywhere in Romania over the past few years was 2.5 meters at Bâlea Lake in both 2019 and 2021. In 2019, the Făgăraș Mountains received a staggering 70 centimeters of new snow in under 24 hours, according to the ANM.
In 2019, the Cuntu mountain weather station, located in the Țarcu Mountains in western Romania at an altitude of over 1,400 meters, recorded a snow depth of 229 cm.
Years with less snowfall in January saw snow depths at Bâlea Lake remain below 110 cm.
For lowland areas, the record comes from January 2010, with over 70 cm of snow in the northern part of Constanța county, and again in 2019 (northern Moldova, the Bârnova radar, near Iași).
The record for Bucharest dates back to January 11, 2017: a snow depth of 63 cm at the Filaret weather station.
Bâlea Lake generally has the deepest snowpack in Romania in the early weeks of the year, but in 2026, the situation is reversed: Omu 155 cm, Bâlea Lac 111 cm.
Coldest Nights in January
There was a significant difference between the warmest January in the last 15 years and the coldest. The national average was +3.3 C in January 2023 and -5.9 C in January 2017.
The lowest temperature recorded in Romania in January over the last 15 years was -34.6 C in Întorsura Buzăului in 2015. Also that year, Baraolt registered a super-low maximum temperature: -15.1 C.
Nine years ago, lows of -32 C were recorded in Întorsura Buzăului, -29.2 degrees at Omu, and -21.7 C in Bucharest Băneasa. Întorsura Buzăului has experienced several minimum temperatures close to -30 degrees Celsius in the last 15 years.
Also in January 2017, daytime highs were extremely low, reminiscent of winters from the 1980s: -15.9 degrees at Baraolt, -10.2 degrees in Bucharest Afumați, and -23.1 degrees at Vf. Omu, according to ANM data for the first month of the year.
Miercurea Ciuc frequently experienced maximum temperatures below -13, -14 degrees Celsius.
In the warmest January on record, three years ago, temperatures did not fall below -17 C at Omu, -12 C at Miercurea Ciuc, or -4 C in Bucharest for 31 days.
Source photo: Dreamstime.com
