Climate

In Tertiary, the climate in this region was tropical with jungles and tropical forests similar to those that we can find nowadays in Africa. Starting off in Paleocene the climate slowly cooled to moderate and ending up with extensive glaciations at the end of the period. Only at the end of the Neogene the climate finally settled and became seasonal and temperate, similar to modern climate.

The climate in the region of Detva is determined by its belonging to the system of the Western Carpathians. The highest point in the region is at 1458 metres above the sea level, the lowest at 370 metres. Generally, the climate is temperate continental with relatively warm summers and cold, cloudy and humid winters. Relatively small differences in altitude cause that the climate is not very differentiated and is characterised as temperate warm climate of basins with high temperature inversion. The area can be divided into the 3 kinds of climatic zones.

A.temperate warm climate zone – 700-800 metres above the sea level
B.temperate cool climate zone – above 800 metres above the sea level
C.cold mountain climate – the peaks of the mountains

Average temperature of the coldest month, January, is about – 4 oC and the average temperature of the hottest month is about 17 oC. For the highest areas of the mountain Poľana cold weather is typical with average temperatures in January about –6 oC and in July about 12,5 oC. Annual average number of the summer days is from 50 to 60 (Poľana only about 10) and annual average number of the days without frost is from 120 to 160. The area receives between 700 and 800 mm of the rain per year (Poľana 1000 – 1400 mm, most on the western slope). The rain is most common in June and the driest month is March. Snow covers the region usually between 60 to 70 days per year (in the mountains 100 – 120 days; Poľana 130 – 160 days). The depth of the snow can reach from 100 to 120 cm.