Moldova
4 cities
Climate overview
Moldova spans 45°28′–48°29′N as a small landlocked Eastern European country (approximately 33,846 km²) positioned between Romania and Ukraine, lying between the Prut and Dniester rivers. The landscape is characterized by gently rolling hill country dominated by the central Codru forested uplands rising to Bălănești at 430 m (the nation's highest point), with the chernozem-rich lowland steppe of Bugeac in the south, the wine-growing valleys of the Bessarabian centre, and the breakaway Transnistria region along the Dniester left bank.
The climate is moderately continental: humid continental (Dfa / Dfb on the borderline) across the country with warm to hot summers and cold often-snowy winters, modulated by occasional Black Sea moisture inputs but largely shaped by Eurasian continental airmasses.
Chișinău has January highs of 1°C and lows of −4°C and July highs of 28°C with 540 mm of rainfall peaking in summer. Bălți in the north sees January highs of 1°C and lows of −6°C and July highs of 29°C with 490 mm. Cahul in the south has January highs of 1°C and lows of −4°C and July highs of 29°C with 510 mm. Tiraspol in Transnistria sees January highs of 2°C and lows of −5°C and July highs of 30°C with 500 mm. The Codru forested uplands are somewhat cooler and wetter than the lowlands.
Snow cover is common in winter. The all-time temperature range extends from −35.5°C at Brătușeni in January 1963 to 42.4°C at Fălești in August 2012. Major weather events include the severe July 2008 Prut and Dniester floods (among the worst in a century), the August 2012 heatwave with the national record of 42.4°C at Fălești, and recurrent severe droughts, including the 2007 event, the most severe in living memory, and the 2020 event, which caused widespread crop failures.
Our archive covers 4 Moldovan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Tiraspol, with average highs around 27.8°C, while Bălţi has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −6.1°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.3°C.
How the climate has shifted in Moldova
Average across 4 cities with full ERA5 coverage: 1940–1970 baseline vs the last decade (2016–2025).
- Annual mean temperature
- 9.8°C→12.1°C
- Days above 30°C per year
- 17 days→44 days+27
- Frost days per year
- 108 days→74 days−34
- Tropical nights (≥20°C) per year
- 7 nights→12 nights+5
Warmest year in the record so far: 2024.
What's unusual right now
From a snapshot of the world's largest cities updated each hour. Today's mean temperature compared with each city's long-term average for the same calendar date (ERA5 climatology, 1940 onward). Last 30 days uses each city's rolling daily-mean vs its monthly average. Not a global ranking.
Warmer than usual