The climate in Moldova

Climate zone: Moderate zone of the northern hemisphere

The climate in Moldova is much more unsettled than in central Europe and offers varied seasons with deep winters and warm summers. It rarely gets really warm here and you can safely leave your swimwear at home. Due to the warmer temperatures the best time for traveling is from May to September. Nearly unattractive for tourists are the cold months from November to March.

› Duration of daylight and sunshine in Moldova

Temperature records of the last 25 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1996 to June 2021 was reported by the Tiraspol weather station. In August 2020 the record temperature of 37.9 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 3 weather stations in Moldova , was recorded in 2012 with an average temperature of 23.1 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every 4 to 6 hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 21.3 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 30.0 °C.

The coldest day in these 25 years was reported by the weather station Tiraspol. Here the temperature dropped to -20.2 °C in January 2021. Tiraspol lies at an altitude of 40 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 2003 with an average temperature of -2.4 °C. In Moldova, it is usual to have about 3.6 degrees more at 1.1 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in September 1996. With 7.2 mm per day, the Chisinau weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 25 years.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1997 - 2020

In contrast to single record values, a long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. A simply calculated average value would give a falsified result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would already decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and falsifies the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 1 measuring points in order to have actually comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1997 to 2020 there were only these 1 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Chisinau). From these weather reports we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was 2012 with 26.0 °C. 2012 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -7.6 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 10.5 °C in the years after 1997 and about 11.7 °C in the last years before 2020. So in less than 24 years it has increased by about 1.2 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 1 weather stations in Moldova. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of the global warming has been provided separately.




More detailed information on global warming with a view by continent can also be found on our topic page on climate change. Data basis: German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements.