# Orsa, Sweden

Orsa (Swedish pronunciation:) is a locality and the seat of Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants (2010). It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about 15 kilometres (9 miles) north of the town Mora. Inlandsbanan and European route E45 run through the town and the railroad Bollnäs-Orsa connects.

## Nature

The southern parts of Orsa are characterized by the Siljan Ring, the ring of lakes and rivers in northern Dalarna formed by the big meteorite strike 365 million years ago. In central Orsa, at the outflow of river Oreälven a sand bank has been built up, in these days enjoyed by thousands of visitors and the inhabitants of Orsa. The big forests start just north of the town of Orsa, with the sparsely populated Orsa finnmark, to which many Finns emigrated during the 17th century.

## Worth seeing

* Orsa Spelmän, (Orsa folklore musicians) which Benny Andersson from ABBA used to play with.
* Skattungbyn a small village with a view over the river Oreälven.
* Orsayran (The Orsa Dizzying) a summer music festival, each Wednesday in July.
* Orsa slipstensmuseum a museum of the making of the famous grindstones of Orsa, located in Mässbacken.
* Helvetesfallet and Storstupet, waterfalls in river Ämån 20 km (12 miles) north of Orsa
* Orsa Grönklitt. A wilderness center with wilderness activities, bear and animal park during the summer and a ski resort during the winter.

## Orsamål dialect

About 500 people speak the Orsamål dialect, an Old Scandinavian language, which is a variant of Dalecarlian, also called Old Swedish in Minnesota, USA.

## Climate

Climate data for Mora (2002–2020 averages); extremes since 1941; snow depth from Orsa :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) | 11.5 (52.7) | 17.3 (63.1) | 26.4 (79.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 32.4 (90.3) | 31.7 (89.1) | 33.0 (91.4) | 25.4 (77.7) | 21.6 (70.9) | 15.1 (59.2) | 10.9 (51.6) | 33.0 (91.4) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 5.6 (42.1) | 6.4 (43.5) | 12.4 (54.3) | 18.0 (64.4) | 24.3 (75.7) | 27.0 (80.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 26.3 (79.3) | 21.4 (70.5) | 15.5 (59.9) | 10.3 (50.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 29.4 (84.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.0 (28.4) | −0.7 (30.7) | 4.0 (39.2) | 10.4 (50.7) | 15.8 (60.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 22.2 (72.0) | 20.3 (68.5) | 15.6 (60.1) | 8.4 (47.1) | 3.1 (37.6) | −0.3 (31.5) | 9.7 (49.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.5 (22.1) | −4.5 (23.9) | −0.8 (30.6) | 4.7 (40.5) | 9.9 (49.8) | 14.2 (57.6) | 16.5 (61.7) | 15.0 (59.0) | 10.9 (51.6) | 4.8 (40.6) | 0.3 (32.5) | −3.6 (25.5) | 5.2 (41.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.0 (15.8) | −8.2 (17.2) | −5.5 (22.1) | −1.0 (30.2) | 3.9 (39.0) | 8.3 (46.9) | 10.7 (51.3) | 9.7 (49.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 1.1 (34.0) | −2.5 (27.5) | −6.8 (19.8) | 0.6 (33.0) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −22.9 (−9.2) | −21.9 (−7.4) | −17.3 (0.9) | −8.0 (17.6) | −3.3 (26.1) | 1.8 (35.2) | 4.6 (40.3) | 2.1 (35.8) | −1.4 (29.5) | −7.7 (18.1) | −12.7 (9.1) | −19.4 (−2.9) | −25.8 (−14.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −39.7 (−39.5) | −40.5 (−40.9) | −30.6 (−23.1) | −22.0 (−7.6) | −8.6 (16.5) | −3.4 (25.9) | 2.5 (36.5) | −2.2 (28.0) | −8.8 (16.2) | −16.6 (2.1) | −27.4 (−17.3) | −35.0 (−31.0) | −40.5 (−40.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 36.0 (1.42) | 25.6 (1.01) | 26.2 (1.03) | 26.2 (1.03) | 57.7 (2.27) | 78.5 (3.09) | 84.3 (3.32) | 80.0 (3.15) | 45.0 (1.77) | 57.5 (2.26) | 44.2 (1.74) | 34.9 (1.37) | 596.1 (23.46) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 34 (13) | 41 (16) | 41 (16) | 21 (8.3) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 4 (1.6) | 10 (3.9) | 21 (8.3) | 48 (19) |
| Source 1: SMHI Open Data ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: SMHI climate data 2002–2020 ||||||||||||||

## International relations
### Twin towns – Sister cities

Orsa is twinned with:
* Aalborg, Denmark