page_title: Östersund
section_title: Climate
hierarchical_section_title: Östersund / Geography / Climate
caption_attribution_description: English: Östersund seen from Frösön, Jämtland, Sweden.
context_page_description: Östersund is an urban area in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön, and is the only city in Jämtland. Östersund is the region's cultural and economical centre and by tradition a city of trade and commerce. Östersund had one of the most extensive garrisons in Sweden prior to its closure in the early-21st century. The city is the Mid Sweden University's largest campus site with approximately 7,000 students. With a total population of 50,960 Östersund is the 22nd most populous city in Sweden, the 46th most populous city in Scandinavia, and by far the largest inland city in Northern Sweden.
  The city was the only Swedish city founded and chartered in the 18th century. Östersund was founded in order to create a trade monopoly over Jämtland whose inhabitants' lucrative trade annoyed the Swedish crown. The intention was to persuade the local farmers to deliver merchandise to middlemen in Östersund, but the population opposed this economic philosophy, and Östersund long remained small.
context_section_description: Östersund has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc) and is located in the far north of the north temperate climate zone. The cold Arctic winds that occasionally find their way to the city are called nordvästan (the north-westerner) or kallvästan (the cold-westerner) locally.
  However the winter climate is much warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. This is due to the gulf stream and the many passages in the mountain range, bringing warmer Atlantic winds to the city during winters. This somewhat maritime character also makes the summers in the city rather cool, in comparison to other towns in inland Scandinavia, which all have a more continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. It contains a strong influence of the humid continental climate courtesy of its mild September lows extending the mild mean temperatures.
  Though Östersund is in fact affected by the gulf stream it lacks the high frequency of rain following the currents. This is due to the Scandinavian Mountain Range acting as a natural barrier, receiving most of the precipitation, giving Östersund and the surrounding area a rain deficit. Another issue that has to be taken into account is the higher elevation of Östersund compared to the weather stations in Ångermanland farther east. For example, Sollefteå at a similar latitude 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the east but at sea level, albeit inland, has almost three degrees warmer July days.
  Östersund has a high exposition of sunlight and was the most sunny city in Sweden in the summer of 2007 (1 July to 9 August) with 654 hours of sun. However, in comparison to east coast locations, sunshine is relatively low.
caption: Östersund and Frösön in February 2005
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