The climate is similar to that of the nation’s capital,Bucharest. The average annual temperature is 10.5 °C, with record minimum registered on 25 January 1952 of -30 °C while record maximum was registered on 19 July 2007 of 43 °C. On average, around 17 days are very cold, 26 cold, 99 warm and 30 tropical, while the rest have a moderate temperature.

Average annual precipitations are 600 mm; 30–40 mm in January and 88 mm in June. Precipitations range between 963.9 mm registered in 1901 and 305.3 mm registered in 1930. Throughout the year, there are on average 104 days with rain, 26 with snow, 112 with clear skies, 131 with clouds and 122 with no sunshine. The climate of Ploieşti is influenced by the winds coming from north-east (40%) and south-east (23%), having an average speed of 3.1 m/s. On average, there are 11 days throughout the year with wind speed exceeding 11 m/s and only 2 days characterised by winds over 16 m/s. Atmospheric pressure is 748.2 mm.

The city lies on the Romanian Plain, having an average altitude of 150m. The surrounding landscape is influenced by its position around the Prahova river, whose stream bed lies 25 km west. The Teleajan River  passes through the city while the Dambu River passes through the north-eastern neighbourhoods.

The vegetation of Ploiești used to be characterised by a plain forest, made up predominantly of pedunculate oak trees (querques robur). Other varieties of oak trees such as the sessile oak (querques petraea) also existed. Remnants of the old forest still exist and some trees are currently protected, such as two old oak trees in Giurgiu, on the southern periphery of the city.

In current times the vegetation is typical of urban settlements, made up of ornamental plants, plantations of chestnuts, aspen and black locust. Parks and other green areas are limited: the main boulevard area, the park next to the Sala Sporturilor, the park from the northern part of the city, the “Mihai Viteazul” park and another park next to the Bucov barrier. These occupy only around 85.5 ha, resulting in 3.2 m2 of green space per inhabitant.

Around the city one can also observe several endangered trees, which are protected by law. These include the giant redwood from the garden of the “Paul Constantinescu” museum. There also exist trees that have adapted to the local climate, such as figs. In some neighbourhoods more fruit trees and flowers are currently being planted.

Pollution in Ploiesti,Romania

Purity and Cleanliness in Ploiesti, Romania