The little town that faces snow in June, -30 °C and 7 months of winter!
It’s often called Siberia of Greece and the reason is its fame of the extremely low temperature. It faces 7 months of winter with very cold weather and temperature that reaches -30 degrees Celsius (-22.0 °F).
South Nevrokopi is situated on the north-west of prefecture of Drama and has attracted the interest of many meteorologists because of its natural phenomena. The scientists have reached the conclusion that this strange fact, regarding Greek weather, is due to the mountains nearby which prevent hot air masses of entering the basin. This results in weather conditions similar to the Siberian steppe.
Temperatures here range from -15 to -30 degrees Celsius, while snowfall is not uncommon in May, even at the end of June it has snowed in the area as happened in 1996.
The tough winter has become an everyday struggle for the 8026 inhabitants of South Nevrokopi from the beginning of October until April. The snow reaches up to two meters, which means a difficult daily life, in terms of even the simplest things. This may sound strange to a lot of people from other countries who have faced even worse climate difficulties but in Greece this is a unique phenomenon since weather is very calm most time of the year.
Although the inhabitants have learned to live with the cold and have adapted to the extreme weather conditions of the coldest city in Greece, they are known for being incredibly "warm" and hospitable people, who welcome visitors with a smile.
There are also many other attractions in the area such as the ski center of Falakro, the traditional settlement in the village "Granitis", the artificial lakes and rivers with the unique natural beauty, the spectacular routes in the forests and the old Orthodox Christian churches.
