Sauda | |
|---|---|
 View of the town at night (looking towards the fjord) | |
  Sauda Sauda (Norway) Show map of Norway | |
| Coordinates:59°39′02″N6°21′15″E / 59.6506°N 6.3542°E /59.6506; 6.3542 | |
| Country | Norway |
| Region | Western Norway |
| County | Rogaland |
| District | Ryfylke |
| Municipality | Sauda |
| Established as | |
| Town (By) | 1999 |
| Area | |
• Total | 4.06 km2 (1.57 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 9 m (30 ft) |
| Population (2019)[1] | |
• Total | 4,174 |
| • Density | 1,028/km2 (2,660/sq mi) |
| Demonym | saudabu |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Post Code | 4200 Sauda |
Sauda is atown inSauda municipality inRogaland county,Norway. The town, which is also theadministrative centre of the municipality, is located in a river valley at the northern end of theSaudafjorden.[3] The small suburb ofSaudasjøen lies about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the town centre. A large part of the industrial harbour area of Sauda is built onreclaimed land that was once underwater in the fjord.
Sauda receivedcity status in 1998. The 4.06-square-kilometre (1,000-acre) town has a population (2019) of 4,174 and apopulation density of 1,028 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,660/sq mi). Sauda is the largest settlement in the municipality as well as the only urban area[1]
The newspaperRyfylke has been published in Sauda since 1926.[4]
The town has four churches:Sauda Church andSolbrekk Chapel in the town centre,Saudasjøen Chapel in the western suburb of Saudasjøen, andHellandsbygd Chapel a few miles north of Sauda. There is also a high school in the town as well as theRyfylkesmuseet (Ryfylke museum).[3]
Sauda was originally (as with many Norwegian towns/cities) an old farming village. The village survived onagriculture and thetimber industry throughout theMiddle Ages. Due to its proximity to many nearby waterfalls, several mills were built for pulp and paper. Over time, Sauda grew up as industrialization began, especially at the start of the 1900s.Zinc mining in the late 1800s at the nearbyAllmannajuvet mine caused Sauda's harbor to grow as the mining ships began arriving.
In 1915, the American companyUnion Carbide Corporation built theSauda Smelteverk, asmelting factory near the centre of Sauda. This factory led directly or indirectly to a huge development in the area. Sauda suddenly became the place people both from Rogaland county and the rest of the country moved to in order to gain employment. It was a tripling in population into a few years, with a population peak around the year 1960. Recent industry and several power development project kept alive the city and made more development. The village received town status in 1998.
Sauda has something in between ahumid continental climate (Dfb) and a temperateoceanic climate (Cfb). The wettest part of the year is late autumn and winter and the driest is spring and early summer, which demonstrates an oceanic precipitation pattern. December precipitation is almost three times larger than in May. Situated at the innermost part of the long and narrow fjord of Sauda, the oceanic influences are less than in Stavanger, but still enough to moderate winters. Atlantic lows coming from the west goes up against the mountains surrounding Sauda and the result is a large amount of precipitation. The weather station in Sauda has been operating since March 1928. The all-time high temperature 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) was recorded July 2019, and the record low −17.2 °C (1.0 °F) was set in January 2010 (extremes available back to 2003).The average date for the first overnight freeze (below 0 °C (32 °F)) in autumn is October 15 (1981-2010 average).[5]
| Climate data for Sauda 1991-2020 (5 m, extremes 2003-2024) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.4 (50.7) | 11.4 (52.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 20.9 (69.6) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.9 (87.6) | 34.6 (94.3) | 31.6 (88.9) | 30.5 (86.9) | 22.9 (73.2) | 17.4 (63.3) | 13.8 (56.8) | 34.6 (94.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) | 3.1 (37.6) | 6 (43) | 11 (52) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.6 (65.5) | 20.4 (68.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 16 (61) | 10.6 (51.1) | 6.1 (43.0) | 3.3 (37.9) | 11.1 (52.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.2 (31.6) | −0.2 (31.6) | 2.3 (36.1) | 6.3 (43.3) | 10.3 (50.5) | 13.5 (56.3) | 15.6 (60.1) | 15.1 (59.2) | 12 (54) | 7.2 (45.0) | 3.2 (37.8) | 0.4 (32.7) | 7.1 (44.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) | −2.7 (27.1) | −0.7 (30.7) | 2.6 (36.7) | 6 (43) | 9.6 (49.3) | 12.1 (53.8) | 11.8 (53.2) | 9 (48) | 4.7 (40.5) | 1 (34) | −1.8 (28.8) | 4.1 (39.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −17.2 (1.0) | −14.4 (6.1) | −14.3 (6.3) | −6.4 (20.5) | −0.9 (30.4) | 1.9 (35.4) | 5.5 (41.9) | 5.4 (41.7) | 0.9 (33.6) | −5.3 (22.5) | −10.7 (12.7) | −15.7 (3.7) | −17.2 (1.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 283.7 (11.17) | 222.3 (8.75) | 189.5 (7.46) | 120 (4.7) | 104.3 (4.11) | 106.5 (4.19) | 117.3 (4.62) | 173.8 (6.84) | 218.9 (8.62) | 264.7 (10.42) | 269.9 (10.63) | 300.3 (11.82) | 2,371.2 (93.33) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 19 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 196 |
| Source 1: eklima/met.no[6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA - WMO averages 91-2020 Norway[7] | |||||||||||||
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