Do you think of Norway as a “cold” country, or as one with more “moderate” temperatures?

41 comments

1. Empatisk temperatur i norge ligger i snitt på 0 Kelvin over hele landet stort sett hele året.

   English:

   Empathic temperature in Norway is at average 0 Kelvin throughout the whole country at a mostly permanent basis.

2. Yes and no. Tromsø doesnt get much colder than -16. Bardufoss regularly experiences temps around -30.
   Karasjok is a bit colder with -40.

   Røros is cold as shit as well.

   Coastal areas are usually quite moderate. And Norway is a long country. Some places are not cold, some dont get snow, other places can have snow from september to may.

   But to answer your question. I dont feel like it is a cold country. It is what I am used to and grew up with.

   We are big on winter sports as well. With most gold medals in the winter olympics. It is our culture, same as you.

3. I was late to work once because my front door was frozen solid.

   Does that answer your question?

4. Norway is way warmer than most of Canada (where there’s people at least). Because of the gulf stream. I live further North than Mainland Canada and there isn’t even ice on the fjords here in winter, on the Canadian side there’s solid ice all the way to the North Pole in winter.

   And the coast of Norway is losing days of below-freezing temperatures extremely rapidly. Bodø (a town in the middle of the long thin bit of Norway) has lost 60 below-freezing days in just 30 years.

5. On average (in terms of where most people actually live), I’d say it’s mostly temperate, with cooler summers. But there are are huge variations depending on several factors, like the latitude (superimposed over your neck of the woods, and not including Svalbard, the northernmost part is in Québec City, and the southernmost point is just south of Atlanta), whether it’s on the coast or inland (i.e. the gulf stream effect), and the south-eastern part of the country typically has notably more stable, warmer, longer summers, and an overall drier climate (they are basically shielded by the mountains to the west and north, and warm air from the south and east is sort of trapped under the right conditions). If people describe Norway as cold, they’re referring to the average annual temperature, the long winters, and the unreliable, often cool summers.

6. I mean, Antarctica gets much colder than Canada so you have no business calling yourself a cold country.

7. I regularly have to use a hairdryer to open my car doors in the mornings during winter and to open the charging port on it. This year wasnt to bad, i only had to do it a handful of times, but theres years where it has been worse

8. I think of Norway as exceptionally temperate for being this far north, and indeed, I think it’s mainly because of the gulf stream. Go inland during winter, and it quickly becomes way colder.

   Also, dry air easily fluctuate way more in temperature. For instance, the northernmost parts can still get like 30C during the summer if conditions align. I imagine the temperatures are more stable around bodies of water in Canada, even though it may feel colder there. Temperatures around freezing, with fog, feels worse to me than like -15C and dry air.

   People from the oldest living generation tells me there used to be way more glaciers around, but that they’ve melted during their lifetimes. I gather that we don’t quite have the same conditions for winter sports anymore.

   edit: below freezing with fog is not that common

9. Am Canadian. I tell people I move here for love and the weather. The weather on the coast here is about 1000% better here than southern Ontario and there’s 4 (sometimes 8) distinct seasons here, whereas Ontario has winter and summer, and sometimes it’s the span of a day. Seriously, last time I was back home, March 15th was -20°c with windchill and March 16th was +22°c.

   ​

   Edit: that said, some places in Norway are much, much colder and snowier than most of populated Canada (Røros comes to mind, so does most of inland Finnmark)

10. It’s cold. Even in ‘summer’.

11. I know the weather in Norway is not to be trifled with, especially in the mountains, any time of year. But I can’t help but recall this story: There was a -40 C deep freeze in my Canadian province, and I had arrived at work with my eyelashes all frosted up (I walk to work). Then I looked up the weather in Norway to see how my relatives were faring… and it was +7 and rainy in Oslo!

12. By Norwegian standards I would say it’s pretty much average.

13. where I am has -40 for about 4 weeks in total a year, used to be much colder, according to everyone that’s older than 40, but global warmings a bitch, and has negatively affected my reindeer.

14. I mean it used to be -15 Celsius to -25 Celsius every winter when I was a child. Had to walk a kilometer to get to school or about 20 min. Usually the path I took wouldnt be plowed so it was about knee deep in snow. That was about 7 years ago last time I saw something close to that. Winter here now is pretty mild, I dont get how people complain as much since it used to be alot worse. Climate has warmed up I guess. Now -15 celsius is a rare sight here. I live a bit east of Oslo.

15. It’s not the cold that gets you, it’s the lack of sunlight

16. Yeah I was surprised to see the average temps in Detroit, MI in the winter is colder than Bergen

17. Only lived here for 12 years, 2 winters in Fredrikstad and soon starting my 10th winter in Bergen. Those 2 in Fredrikstad (that’s out east, southeast of Oslo), were the coldest I’ve lived, but it probably didn’t help the house I lived in was old and poorly insulated.

    Bergen is fairly temperate. Bit of rain – not much this last week, though – but as long as it’s dry, can often go out in a t-shirt and a thin jacket. T-shirt and raincoat if it’s raining.

    So for my part – Bergen (and I imagine much of the west coast) is pretty moderate, but Frederikstad is more extreme – colder winters, but warmer and sunnier summers.

18. I am from the south west. Stavanger. Its about 7 celsius and raining every day. Almost never any snow and just a few nights of below zero celsius most winters. I almost don’t bother changing tires

19. 100% moderate

20. Spent 3 weeks in Montreal in january. As a Norwegian, I must say – the worst winter I have ever experienced but at least it wasn’t dark 20 hours a day. Was shocked to see an outdoor electronics festival!

21. The first place that comes to most people’s minds when they think about “a cold country” is Nordic countries. Norway is kind of famous for being a very cold place…

22. Depends on where in Norway you are. I would say no, even with -27 some days last winter.

23. I live in Lillehammer and its f€#*ing freezing.

24. Moderate, but I live further south jn Norway.

25. The terrain with mountains really make it varied. There are cold pockets all over, like Karasjok that can get down to -50. And then there are coastal cities that are relatively warm and stable most of the year

26. Depends on where in Norway you live in the western part Rae live it’s not cold we only get like -15 which I don’t see is that cold. You go to northern Norway because it’s also a little bit drier climate it feels much colder at least for me/to me

27. The reason why Canada is generally colder despite most people living further south than those in Norway is both due to the Gulf Stream and the fact that most Canadians experience a [continental climate](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_climate). The same can be said for most of Russia as well and is often why people cite Siberia for being as cold as it is in the dead of winter.

28. Depends where in Norway

29. Norway is maybe the warmest country at our height in the world, simply due to the gulf stream which hits us daily, while the rest of the North, Sweeden, Finland, Canada, Greenland and Russia, are well known for being colder, and it is easy to see why. The further we reach from the Atlantic waters, it gets colder. Just look to siberia and Alaska.

30. Norway’s climate is extremely diverse between north, south, east and west, due to its geography, so doesn’t really have “a climate”.

    I’d certainly consider the north to be cold, but I live in the south east and I don’t consider the climate particularly cold. As of recently I’ve actually found the summers to be creeping towards uncomfortably hot, which is sad because Norwegian summers have historically been mild and pleasant.

    As you mention, the climate is like this because of the gulf stream, meaning our latitude is much further north relative to our climate. I kind of hate this because we get really dark winters and summer days so long I don’t even care for it, as it negatively affects my sleep. I’d much prefer a lower latitude without the gulf stream for a more even annual distribution of sunlight, lol.

31. Québécois currently living in Trondheim at the moment! 👋

    To be fair, since Trondheim is at the same latitude as Iqaluit, I am honestly disappointed by Norwegian winters 😅 I know it’s because of the Gulf Stream mainly, but it’s always between -5 and +5 C in the winter with very high humidity. So, if you are not in the mountains, snow is mostly great for snowman making (I’m sure you understand what I mean by this haha), and not very nice for winter sports. However, in opposition with Quebec, it’s VERY easy to access the mountains even without a car so it’s fine. It just sucks that in town it’s slush all winter. Moreover, in Canada, I never had to buy spikes to put under my boots and here after 1 week of rain and cold, it was a necessity lol. Super icy

    And I am in Trondheim. In Oslo or Bergen, expect rain. As other people said, if you go inland, it’s quite colder and dryer.

    As a québécois, I guess Tromsø would be the closest thing to Montréal’s winter. Québec city is definitely colder and has probably more snow.

    Tu peux m’écrire en privé si tu as d’autres questions! 🙂

32. I move from Minneapolis to Stavanger. Minneapolis gets very hot in the summer— very cold in the winter— like -20 to 40C… nothing unusual about that range.

    Stavanger is 0-10 in the winter and 10-20 in the summer. I consider that mild— bike to work all year (studded tires in the winter). Granted, getting away from the coast and hitting a bit of altitude can get much colder.

    Coming from MN, Canada is like Siberia.

33. cold country, cold people

34. Just a 10-15 mins drive from my house you could have -10 degrees lower temperature. I live near the sea.

    Last time I stayed in Karasjok which is a couple of hours from here, it was -41degrees and my car died, so I had to wrap myself up well and walk to the store, but that was fine as long as I kept moving.

    I noticed also that during this period people left their cars running on the parkingplace during their entire working day..yes for like eight hours straight, the car was running.

35. Coming from an American from the down south it seemed pretty moderate in the summer

36. My area on the west coast is certainly not cold. In summer I wear sneakers, pants, and a t-shirt. The only difference in winter is that I put a jacket on over the t-shirt, usually worn open unless it’s too windy for an umbrella. It’s a mild, oceanic climate.

37. I see Norway as a cold country yes, not to cold like freezing, also averages for months are not great for deciding if its cold or not, as the regularly lowest temperature might be way of the average.
    Dont know of anywhere to check that lists those for canada so have no idea what that would be in Quebec, but for Norway yr.no has historical data, i used to live in Kirkenes it was down to about -20-25c a few times a month during winter, some days in winter are cold some are… Less cold, in that sence i dont think its much different.
    Further south close to Kristiansand where i grew up it is closer to moderate, would still consider it cold based on the fact that agriculture was limited to few crops due to the climate, would say its fairly comfortable though.

38. Cold but moderate

39. After living in Quebec Im no longer afraid of Norways weather

40. I am from Kirkenes, but currently living in Oslo. Winters in Kirkenes can be really freezing, I think the worst I have experienced there is about -42 Celsius, but this is years ago. Still though, in recent years I have experienced -30. The winter in Oslo is nothing compared to back home in the north, but I feel like several factors are reason for this, not only the cold; for instance, I don’t have to battle a literal shit-ton of snow in Oslo every winter lol.

41. Depends where you are in Norway. For example in the winter i would consider the temp in my home city Stavanger as moderate and since I moved to study on the east side of the country in Gjøvik I would say the temp there is a lot colder. Hit -20 C there last winter. In Stavanger at lowest it was like -8 C. And would mostly be around -3 C. But in summer it’s usually the same temp but a little warmer in Gjøvik. And summers are usually moderate for both places. Not very cold but also not extremly warm.