Records · NMA · 1888–2026
On 25 January 1942, at Bod, the thermometer read −38.5 °C. On 10 August 1951, at Ion Sion, 44.5 °C. Between them lie 83 degrees and the whole history of Romania's records. Climb the thermometer step by step, then find your town on the scale.
Climb the thermometer Skip to your town
2 official records · 30 open stations · 7,153 places
Each step presents a record with its day: national records, a mountain record and the extreme of today's stations. Blue sinks towards the absolute cold, red climbs towards the absolute heat. Your town waits at the end.
1 1–4 January 1888 · Șumuleu Ciuc
At Șumuleu Ciuc (now Miercurea Ciuc) the thermometer falls to −34.8 °C. The place was outside Romania then, but on today's territory this is the first absolute minimum. The same winter, Bucharest-Filaret writes its all-time low: −30.5 °C.
Clima R.P.R. 1962 · Otetelișanu 1914
2 14 January 1893 · Pâncești-Dragomirești
At the agriculture school of Pâncești-Dragomirești (now in the south of Roman) the alcohol drops to −35.0 °C. The national record lasts exactly one day.
I.M.C. Bulletins 1893, 1910
3 15 January 1893 · Slatina-Strihareț
At Slatina-Strihareț, on the Olt, the reading is −35.6 °C — much where today's station stands. The record holds 36 years and remains Oltenia's absolute minimum.
Otetelișanu 1914
4 7 August 1896 · Giurgiu
Giurgiu measures 42.8 °C, the first national heat record. Two years earlier the same place had first passed 40 degrees. Giurgiu's August record would hold 116 years, until 7 August 2012.
I.M.C. Bulletin 1896 · DWD SYNOP 2012
5 5 July 1916 · Alexandria
Alexandria measures 42.9 °C — a tenth above Giurgiu. The national record holds 30 years, and Alexandria's station record still stands today.
Clima R.P.R. 1962 · 1946 Bulletin
6 10 February 1929 · Vârful Omu
At Omu station (2,504 m, founded in 1927) the reading is −38.0 °C. A mountain record to this day — kept apart from the lowland record.
I.M.C. Bulletin 1929 · Clima R.P.R.
7 1 February 1937 · Copou-Iași
Copou-Iași measures −36.3 °C — February's minimum below 1,000 m, confirmed by the NMA in Clima României. The 1937 Bulletin had printed −36.0; the 1942 Bulletin corrected it.
1942 Bulletin · Clima României 2008
8 25 January 1942 · Bod, Brașov
At Bod, in the Bârsa land, the reading is −38.5 °C. The monthly Bulletin recognises it at once as the country's record minimum. In Brașov, 14–17 km away (depending on the coordinates used), it was “only” −25.1 °C — a thermal inversion seems to have held the cold down at Bod.
Monthly Bulletin, January 1942
9 20 August 1946 · Strehaia
At Strehaia, in Oltenia, the reading is 43.5 °C. Nineteen days later, on 8 September, the same place, again 43.5 °C — September's national record, still valid today.
I.M.C. Bulletin 1946
10 10 August 1951 · Ion Sion, Brăila
At Ion Sion station, set on a farm in the Brăila Bărăgan, the thermometer reads 44.5 °C. The same day brought 44.0 °C at Valea Argovei and Amara. Since then no validated reading has equalled the figure.
1951 Bulletin · Clima R.P.R. · Clima R.S.R.
11 14 January 1985 · Miercurea Ciuc
Miercurea Ciuc measures −38.4 °C — the extreme of the stations working today, a tenth above the absolute record. Clima României misprints the day as 23 January; the NMA and the open data say the 14th.
NMA via law 544/2001 · this page's pipeline
12 24 July 2007 · Calafat
Calafat measures 44.3 °C — July's record, two tenths below the absolute maximum. Bechet 44.2 °C, Băilești and Moldova Veche 44.0 °C. The 15–25 July 2007 wave is the most intense measured between 1894 and 2012.
Burada & Sandu 2009 · Licurici et al. 2025
Schematic thermometer: −40…+46 °C scale, the marker follows the step being read.
Type your place. The page sets it on the thermometer by the normal winters and summers of the nearest open-series station — and shows the hottest day and coldest night measured there.
In Bucharest (București-Băneasa, 10.1 km away): January nights average −5.0 °C, July days 30.4 °C (1991–2020 normals). Hottest day on record: 42.2 °C, 5 July 2000. Coldest night: −32.2 °C, 25 January 1942.
The verdict belongs to the station, not your street: altitude and distance matter. Calafat, Bechet and Băilești — the stations of the fiercest summers — are not in the open data, so recent maxima may sit below the NMA network's.
| Place | station | January, nights | July, days | hottest day | coldest night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alba Iulia | Sibiu, 52.9 km | −6.6 °C | 26.9 °C | 38.9 °C, 25 August 2012 | −31.8 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Alexandria | Roșiori de Vede, 30.9 km | −5.0 °C | 30.8 °C | 42.7 °C, 24 July 2007 | −29.2 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Arad | Arad, 6.1 km | −3.3 °C | 29.4 °C | 40.8 °C, 5 August 2017 | −30.1 °C, 6 February 1954 |
| Bacău | Bacău, 3.8 km | −5.6 °C | 28.7 °C | 42.5 °C, 7 August 2012 | −30.8 °C, 18 January 1963 |
| Baia Mare | Baia Mare, 5.2 km | — | — | 39.0 °C, 17 July 1928 | −30.0 °C, 10 February 1929 |
| Bistrița | Bistrița, 1.9 km | — | 26.7 °C | 37.7 °C, 5 August 2017 | −33.8 °C, 18 January 1963 |
| Botoșani | Botoșani, 7.8 km | −5.2 °C | 28.0 °C | 40.9 °C, 7 August 2012 | −30.3 °C, 20 January 1963 |
| Brașov | Vârful Omu, 25.2 km | −12.5 °C | 9.9 °C | 25.8 °C, 22 July 1993 | −38.0 °C, 10 February 1929 |
| Brăila | Galați, 25.7 km | −3.8 °C | 30.1 °C | 40.5 °C, 22 July 2007 | −23.4 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Bucharest | București-Băneasa, 10.1 km | −5.0 °C | 30.4 °C | 42.2 °C, 5 July 2000 | −32.2 °C, 25 January 1942 |
| Buzău | Buzău, 2.3 km | −4.3 °C | 29.9 °C | 40.3 °C, 23 July 2007 | −29.6 °C, 24 January 1942 |
| Călărași | Călărași, 1.7 km | −3.7 °C | 31.0 °C | 42.3 °C, 5 July 2000 | −30.0 °C, 8 January 1938 |
| Cluj-Napoca | Cluj-Napoca, 3.1 km | −5.2 °C | 26.7 °C | 38.5 °C, 25 August 2012 | −34.2 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Constanța | Constanța, 4.4 km | −1.2 °C | 27.9 °C | 38.5 °C, 25 July 2007 | −17.8 °C, 25 January 2010 |
| Craiova | Craiova, 11.1 km | −4.1 °C | 30.2 °C | 42.6 °C, 24 July 2007 | −29.4 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Deva | Deva, 1.8 km | −4.3 °C | 28.4 °C | 40.0 °C, 24 July 2007 | −31.6 °C, 24 January 1963 |
| Drobeta-Turnu Severin | Drobeta-Turnu Severin, 1.7 km | −2.6 °C | 31.1 °C | 42.6 °C, 4 July 2000 | −26.6 °C, 22 February 1929 |
| Focșani | Buzău, 68.2 km | −4.3 °C | 29.9 °C | 40.3 °C, 23 July 2007 | −29.6 °C, 24 January 1942 |
| Galați | Galați, 7.4 km | −3.8 °C | 30.1 °C | 40.5 °C, 22 July 2007 | −23.4 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Giurgiu | București-Băneasa, 70.7 km | −5.0 °C | 30.4 °C | 42.2 °C, 5 July 2000 | −32.2 °C, 25 January 1942 |
| Iași | Iași, 2.5 km | −5.1 °C | 29.0 °C | 41.3 °C, 7 August 2012 | −30.6 °C, 20 January 1963 |
| Miercurea Ciuc | Miercurea Ciuc, 5.5 km | −10.8 °C | 25.2 °C | 36.0 °C, 26 August 2012 | −38.4 °C, 14 January 1985 |
| Oradea | Arad, 110.4 km | −3.3 °C | 29.4 °C | 40.8 °C, 5 August 2017 | −30.1 °C, 6 February 1954 |
| Piatra Neamț | Ceahlău-Toaca, 31.4 km | −10.2 °C | 15.1 °C | 26.0 °C, 16 July 2024 | −30.4 °C, 19 February 1985 |
| Pitești | Râmnicu Vâlcea, 47.9 km | −4.0 °C | 29.4 °C | 40.7 °C, 7 August 2012 | −27.0 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Ploiești | București-Băneasa, 48.5 km | −5.0 °C | 30.4 °C | 42.2 °C, 5 July 2000 | −32.2 °C, 25 January 1942 |
| Râmnicu Vâlcea | Râmnicu Vâlcea, 0.3 km | −4.0 °C | 29.4 °C | 40.7 °C, 7 August 2012 | −27.0 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Reșița | Caransebeș, 31.2 km | −3.0 °C | 28.2 °C | 40.3 °C, 24 July 2007 | −26.8 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Satu Mare | Baia Mare, 49.9 km | — | — | 39.0 °C, 17 July 1928 | −30.0 °C, 10 February 1929 |
| Sfântu Gheorghe | Vârful Omu, 53.1 km | −12.5 °C | 9.9 °C | 25.8 °C, 22 July 1993 | −38.0 °C, 10 February 1929 |
| Sibiu | Sibiu, 0.0 km | −6.6 °C | 26.9 °C | 38.9 °C, 25 August 2012 | −31.8 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Slatina | Craiova, 45.5 km | −4.1 °C | 30.2 °C | 42.6 °C, 24 July 2007 | −29.4 °C, 25 January 1963 |
| Slobozia | Călărași, 40.6 km | −3.7 °C | 31.0 °C | 42.3 °C, 5 July 2000 | −30.0 °C, 8 January 1938 |
| Suceava | Ștefan cel Mare, 9.9 km | — | — | 36.7 °C, 16 July 2024 | −29.8 °C, 28 December 1996 |
| Târgoviște | Vârful Omu, 58.3 km | −12.5 °C | 9.9 °C | 25.8 °C, 22 July 1993 | −38.0 °C, 10 February 1929 |
| Târgu Jiu | Drobeta-Turnu Severin, 69.1 km | −2.6 °C | 31.1 °C | 42.6 °C, 4 July 2000 | −26.6 °C, 22 February 1929 |
| Târgu Mureș | Bistrița, 67.7 km | — | 26.7 °C | 37.7 °C, 5 August 2017 | −33.8 °C, 18 January 1963 |
| Timișoara | Timișoara-Traian Vuia, 10.7 km | — | — | 40.0 °C, 16 August 1952 | −24.1 °C, 31 January 1987 |
| Tulcea | Galați, 71.0 km | −3.8 °C | 30.1 °C | 40.5 °C, 22 July 2007 | −23.4 °C, 23 January 1963 |
| Vaslui | Iași, 59.8 km | −5.1 °C | 29.0 °C | 41.3 °C, 7 August 2012 | −30.6 °C, 20 January 1963 |
| Zalău | Cluj-Napoca, 60.7 km | −5.2 °C | 26.7 °C | 38.5 °C, 25 August 2012 | −34.2 °C, 23 January 1963 |
Pick a year and see its extremes at your town's station. Press Play the years to run them all, from the first year with data to the last.
At București-Băneasa, in 2025: hottest day 40.0 °C (26 July 2025, of 365 days), coldest night −17.1 °C (23 February 2025, of 365 days).
Years come from the station's open series (at least 300 days with data a year). They are not homogenised series: station moves and instrument changes break comparability, so the page draws no trend from them.
Seven markers you can quote: each with its value and source — day and station where they apply.
44.5 °C
Ion Sion, Brăila county — 10 August 1951, 44.5 °C. The 1951 Meteorological Bulletin names it explicitly; Clima R.P.R. (p. 70), Clima R.S.R. (p. 59) and the Climatological Atlas confirm it. The same day: 44.0 °C at Valea Argovei and Amara.
Marinică 2017, from Bulletins and syntheses
−38.5 °C
Bod, Brașov county — 25 January 1942. The January 1942 monthly Bulletin recognises it at once as the country's record minimum; four syntheses confirm it, most recently Clima României (2008). In Brașov that same morning: −25.1 °C.
Monthly Bulletin, January 1942
44.3 °C
Calafat — 24 July 2007, 44.3 °C: two tenths below the absolute maximum; Bechet 44.2 °C, Băilești and Moldova Veche 44.0 °C. The 15–25 July 2007 wave is the most intense measured between 1894 and 2012.
Burada & Sandu 2009 · Licurici et al. 2025
−38.4 °C
Miercurea Ciuc — 14 January 1985. The extreme of the stations working today, a tenth above the absolute record (NMA, reply under law 544/2001). Clima României misprints 23 January.
NMA via 544/2001 · this page's pipeline
224 mm
Drobeta-Turnu Severin — 12 July 1999. The maximum of the 30-station open network (this page's computation). The official national record sits in the NMA archive, not in an open source.
this page's computation, from GHCN-Daily
265 cm
Vârful Omu — 13 April 1997, mid-week in a seven-day spell above 230 cm. The open network's maximum; only 12 of the 30 stations have dense snow series.
this page's computation, from GHCN-Daily
83.0 °C
The distance between the two absolute records. On today's working stations (−38.4 / +44.3) the amplitude would be 82.7 °C.
Marinică 2017
Wind is missing from the list: the peak-gust archive sits with the NMA, and no open equivalent exists. Where there is no source, the page leaves a declared gap.
Behind every record stand the doubts it survived.
For Romania, the last word belongs to the NMA: station registers reach the national archive (FNDM), then the monthly and yearly Bulletins, and the climate syntheses — Clima R.P.R. (1962), Clima R.S.R. (1966), the Climatological Atlas (1966), Clima României (2008) — check them before print. The World Meteorological Organization's archive evaluates world and continental records; national ones stay with the national service.
Marinică 2017 · wmo.asu.edu
How could Bod read −38.5 when Brașov, 14–17 km away, read −25.1? The proposed explanation: a thermal inversion held the cold air down in the depression — Bod's platform sat 50–94 metres lower than the town's, depending on the coordinates used. Six-degree inversions across a few kilometres had been seen before (Iași 1937, Craiova 1963). And the January 1942 Bulletin at once called the value the country's record minimum.
Monthly Bulletin, January 1942
Ion Sion was no second-order Institute station — it worked on a former private farm. But the 1951 yearly Bulletin explicitly names the 44.5 °C value, and from 1952 the Ion Sion tables enter the Bulletin. Plus the witnesses: 44.0 °C the same day at Valea Argovei and Amara.
1951 Bulletin · Clima R.P.R. p. 70
Not every figure passes. Simionescu gave −35.6 °C at Giurgiu on 15 January 1893, but Dissescu showed Giurgiu station measured poorly until 1894 — the accepted series start later. And the unofficial −38.5 °C at Bod from 11 February 1929 stayed unofficial: the month's Bulletin says −34.5 °C.
Dissescu 1931 · February 1929 Bulletin
Clima României (2008) misprints the date of the Miercurea Ciuc −38.4 °C as 23 January 1985. The NMA (reply under law 544/2001), the European ECA&D database and Bogdan & Niculescu (1999) say 14 January. This page's pipeline reproduces both halves from the open data: on the 14th, −38.4 °C; on the 23rd, −10.9 °C. It is the test that tells us the arithmetic holds.
Marinică 2017 · this page's pipeline
Felt temperature is not air temperature — records are measured in shade, at 2 metres, with checked thermometers. Park highs and street sensors are not station readings. And a station record (Târgu Jiu, 39.9 °C in August 2024) is not a national record.
this page's method · Licurici et al. 2025
The NMA's summer-2026 report mentions 44.6 °C for summer 2007 — with no station and no day. The NMA's validated tables say 44.3 °C at Calafat (July) and 44.5 °C absolute at Ion Sion (August 2026). Until a station and a day are named and checked, the figure doesn't move the record: a mention is not a measurement.
NMA summer 2026 · NMA validated tables 2026
Four questions from the page. The answers are above, sources included.
1 What is Romania's official absolute maximum?
2 Where was −38.5 °C measured?
3 What record was set at Calafat on 24 July 2007?
4 By how much did Miercurea Ciuc miss the absolute cold record in 1985?
Short answers, from facts published higher up this page.
44.5 °C, at Ion Sion (Brăila county), on 10 August 1951. It is the official record: it appears in the 1951 Meteorological Bulletin and the national climate syntheses.
−38.5 °C, at Bod (Brașov county), on 25 January 1942. The January 1942 Bulletin recognised it at once as the country's record minimum.
No. 2024 is the warmest year in measurement history, with an annual mean of 12.99 °C, but the July 2007 highs were not beaten. The closest approach stays Calafat, 44.3 °C on 24 July 2007.
They were closed down over 50 years ago. Their records stay official: they were measured, recognised and printed in the climate syntheses.
The mean of January nights and July days in 1991–2020 at the nearest open-series station. It is the place's usual climate, not one day's weather.
At the National Meteorological Administration and on the Fii pregătit platform of the emergency inspectorate. The links are under Sources, below.
Two official addresses for coded days.
Yellow, orange and red codes by county, in real time.
What to do in heatwaves, frost and blizzards, from the emergency inspectorate.
The years and verdicts use GHCN-Daily, NOAA's global daily archive (Menne et al. 2012): all 30 Romanian stations, 1896–2026 windows, blank-QFLAG rows. Values are as-reported daily readings, not homogenised series.
A yearly extreme counts with at least 300 days with data a year; coverage is printed next to each year. The 1991–2020 normals need at least 20 days a month and at least 20 years a station-month.
Four stations lack full normals in 1991–2020 (Baia Mare, Ștefan cel Mare, Timișoara-Traian Vuia, partly Bistrița; partly Sulina) — their open series are sparse in the window. Their verdicts show the extremes and say plainly what is missing.
Each place (7,153, from GeoNames, CC BY 4.0) gets the nearest of the 26 stations with long high-and-low series. The station's distance and altitude are in the verdict — 372 places belong to Vârful Omu (2,504 m).
The stations of the fiercest summers — Calafat, Bechet, Băilești — are not in the open data. So the year slider may read below the NMA network's maxima; their story is under Records, with its source.
Snow is reported sparsely: only 12 of the 30 stations have dense series. So the page quotes a single snow value (Omu, 265 cm, a week above 230 cm), not a ranking. Wind gusts are absent from the open data entirely, so the page leaves that gap declared.
Two datasets stayed out over licensing: E-OBS/ECA&D (reserved for non-commercial research and education projects; for a public microsite, the fit must be clarified with the ECA&D team) and ROCADA (licence unknown, access on request). Both are named here, with the reason.
The pipeline test: at Miercurea Ciuc the open data give −38.4 °C on 14 January 1985 and −10.9 °C on 23 January — exactly the two halves of the misprint story. At Vârful Omu, −38.0 °C on 10 February 1929 comes out the same.
The neighbouring chapter: clima-ta-s-a-mutat.
All links were checked at publication. The data and the counting rules are in the method above; anyone can redo them.