Búðardalur

Búðardalur
Village
Búðardalur
Location of the Municipality of Dalabyggð
Búðardalur Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 65°07′N 21°46′W
Country	Iceland
Constituency	Northwest Constituency
Region	Western Region
Municipality	Dalabyggð
Population  (2014)
• Total	266
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
Post Code	371

Búðardalur (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈpuːðarˌtaːlʏr̥] ^ⓘ) is a village situated on the Hvammsfjörður in the north-west of Iceland.

The village also lies at the north-eastern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula and is part of the municipality of Dalabyggð. Búðardalur had about 270 inhabitants in 2014 and is a service center for the area, including the regional tourist information centre.[1][2] In the traditional system of counties of Iceland that existed until the late 1980s, it was part of Dalasýsla, a name that is still used for the region.

Overview

Búðardalur contains a supermarket and a petrol station, hair salons, a pub/restaurant, a coffee shop, a health-care centre, an off-licence, a garage[1] and a craft shop; the information centre is in the same building as a cafe and a museum on the Vínland expeditions.[3]

The village has a long history, dating from the time of the first settlements in Iceland. The name means "Camp Valley", or more etymologically straightforward "Boothdale"; it is where settlers had temporary camps when coming to the area. In 1899, Búðardalur was officially granted the right of commerce. An old house from this time still exists.

At a short distance from the village is Eiríksstaðir, the homestead of Erik the Red, who was the first European to discover Greenland and whose son Leif Erikson, born at Eiríksstaðir, was the first European to discover America ahead of Columbus.[1][2]

Climate

Depending on the isotherm used (−3 °C (27 °F) or 0 °C (32 °F)), Búðardalur has either the rare dry-summer subarctic climate (Köppen: Dsc) or the extremely rare cold-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csc) with cold but not severe winters and cool summers.

Climate data for Hamraendar, 11 km (6.8 mi) from Búðardalur (1961-1990)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	10.0 (50.0)	10.1 (50.2)	14.1 (57.4)	15.1 (59.2)	22.0 (71.6)	21.5 (70.7)	23.5 (74.3)	20.0 (68.0)	18.0 (64.4)	15.0 (59.0)	12.0 (53.6)	11.0 (51.8)	23.5 (74.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	0.8 (33.4)	1.3 (34.3)	1.4 (34.5)	4.3 (39.7)	8.2 (46.8)	11.4 (52.5)	12.9 (55.2)	12.4 (54.3)	8.9 (48.0)	5.5 (41.9)	2.3 (36.1)	1.1 (34.0)	5.9 (42.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−1.9 (28.6)	−1.1 (30.0)	−0.9 (30.4)	1.8 (35.2)	5.1 (41.2)	8.3 (46.9)	10.0 (50.0)	9.5 (49.1)	6.3 (43.3)	3.2 (37.8)	−0.1 (31.8)	−1.6 (29.1)	3.2 (37.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−4.7 (23.5)	−4.0 (24.8)	−4.0 (24.8)	−1.4 (29.5)	1.9 (35.4)	5.2 (41.4)	7.0 (44.6)	6.6 (43.9)	3.5 (38.3)	0.6 (33.1)	−2.8 (27.0)	−4.5 (23.9)	0.3 (32.5)
Record low °C (°F)	−20.4 (−4.7)	−20.5 (−4.9)	−19.9 (−3.8)	−19.9 (−3.8)	−11.4 (11.5)	−2.9 (26.8)	0.0 (32.0)	−2.0 (28.4)	−5.9 (21.4)	−12.0 (10.4)	−15.9 (3.4)	−20.0 (−4.0)	−20.5 (−4.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	63.3 (2.49)	57.5 (2.26)	60.8 (2.39)	44.7 (1.76)	23.3 (0.92)	37.6 (1.48)	43.9 (1.73)	47.8 (1.88)	55.0 (2.17)	79.4 (3.13)	63.6 (2.50)	65.8 (2.59)	643.1 (25.32)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	16.4	15.1	17.3	15.3	11.8	13.9	14.6	15.3	15.8	17.7	16.2	17.3	187.0
Source: Icelandic Meteorological Office [4]

References

1. Frank Jacobs, "The Map as Address: Cryptic Letter Reaches Icelandic Destination", The Big Think, 4 September 2016.
2. Andrew Evans, Iceland, 2nd ed. Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England: Bradt Travel Guides, 2011, ISBN 9781841623610, p. 276.
3. Carolyn Bain and Alexis Averbuck, "Búðardalur", 9th ed. Footscray, Victoria, Australia / Oakland, California: Lonely Planet, 2015, ISBN 9781743214756.
4. "1961-90 Climate Averages for Hamraendar". Icelandic Meteorological Office. Retrieved 2 May 2021.

65°07′N 21°46′W