Climatic Setting

Abstract

The area of the Red Lake and the Hăghimaş Mountains is included in a mountain thermal climate, with great diurnal and seasonal variations. There are no meteorological and hydrologic posts in the area of the Red Lake hydrographic basin and data were taken from expeditionary measurements made by Ghenciu (Yearbook Museum Nat Sci Piatra Neamţ, Geol-Geogr, 3:313–319, 1976) in 1968–1970 or they came from interpolation (Apăvăloaie 1971, 1980; Mihăilescu in Observaţii microclimatice expediţionare în uvala Terkö (Piatra Crăpată), Pângăraţi, p 7, 1980 and Apăvăloaie 1980). The specific winds are mountain-valley breezes: from the peak towards the valley in the evenings and the other way around during the day. The big difference in the relative altitude makes the breezes frequent and relatively strong. In the evenings, during the mountain-valley breezes, a strong smell of resin—from the high-altitude pines—fills the air. The relatively cold climate is determined by the appearance of thermal inversions. They are frequent in the winter and they make the ice bridge that occurs on the lake, very long-lasting. Though the Red Lake is situated in a mountain area, there have been examples of temperatures above freezing in winter (4.3 °C in February 1968, 1.1 °C in December 1970, or 0.4 °C in December 1969). For a mountain area, with frequent thermal changes, especially in the winter, the values are not surprising. The climate of the Red Lake area is typical for the surroundings and it is a representative example of the mountainous climate of the Oriental Carpathian mountain range.