Editing Lærdal (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Lærdal ved Jutlamannen.jpg|thumb|right|230px|The river near Jutlamannen]]
Lærdal is located southeast of the [[Sognefjorden]] and east of the [[Aurlandsfjorden]]. The municipality is centered on the Lærdalselvi River with the [[Filefjell]] and Hemsedalsfjell mountain ranges on its east. Lærdal is bordered in [[Vestland]] county by the municipality of [[Aurland]] to the southwest, [[Sogndal]] to the northwest, and [[Årdal]] to the north. It is also bordered on the east by [[Vang, Oppland|Vang]] ([[Innlandet]] county) and [[Hemsedal]] ([[Buskerud]] county), and in the south by [[Ål]] and [[Hol, Norway|Hol]] (both in [[Buskerud]] county).

The lakes [[Eldrevatnet]], [[Juklevatnet]], and [[Øljusjøen]] are located along the southeastern border, south of the mountain [[Høgeloft]].

===Climate===
Lærdal is situated near the head of Sognefjorden. The very long fjord snakes past mountain ranges on its way from the sea inland to Lærdal, and the mountains create a [[rain shadow]] effect for the innermost part of the fjord, making Lærdal much drier than the coast, with just 20% of Bergen's precipitation. The mountains also sometimes gives a [[föhn effect]] in winter for Lærdal. The climate of Lærdal is a thus a mix of oceanic and continental features. Lærdal has a [[humid continental climate]], or a temperate [[oceanic climate]] (Cfb), depending on winter threshold ({{convert|0|°C}} as used in US or {{convert|-3|°C}} as in the original [[Köppen climate classification]]). The record high {{convert|33.4|C}} was recorded both July 2018 and July 2019. The all-time low {{convert|-21.8|C}} is from January 1942.

{{Weather box 
|metric first= yes
|single line = yes
|location = Lærdal 1991-2020 (2 m, Lærdal IV, extremes 1871-2020 includes earlier stations)
|Jan record high C = 15.9 | Jan record low C = -21.8
|Feb record high C = 15.3 | Feb record low C = -21.1
|Mar record high C = 16.8 | Mar record low C = -16.7
|Apr record high C = 21.5 | Apr record low C = -8.8
|May record high C = 28.3 | May record low C = -2.5
|Jun record high C = 31 | Jun record low C = -0.6
|Jul record high C = 33.4 | Jul record low C = 3.3
|Aug record high C = 31 | Aug record low C = 2.8
|Sep record high C = 25.1 | Sep record low C = -2.5
|Oct record high C = 23.6 | Oct record low C = -10.5
|Nov record high C = 18.7 | Nov record low C = -16.7
|Dec record high C = 16.2 | Dec record low C = -19.4
|Jan high C = 2
|Feb high C = 2
|Mar high C = 6
|Apr high C = 11
|May high C = 16
|Jun high C = 19
|Jul high C = 21
|Aug high C = 20
|Sep high C = 15
|Oct high C = 9
|Nov high C = 5
|Dec high C = 2
|year high C =
<!-- Mean daily temperature -->
|Jan mean C=-0.7
|Feb mean C=-0.7
|Mar mean C=2.3
|Apr mean C=6.4
|May mean C=10.2
|Jun mean C=13.6
|Jul mean C=15.9
|Aug mean C=14.8
|Sep mean C=10.9
|Oct mean C=5.9
|Nov mean C=2.2
|Dec mean C=-0.5
|year mean C=
|Jan low C = -2
|Feb low C = -3
|Mar low C = -1
|Apr low C = 3
|May low C = 6
|Jun low C = 9
|Jul low C = 12
|Aug low C = 11
|Sep low C = 8
|Oct low C = 3
|Nov low C = 0
|Dec low C = -2
|year low C =
<!-- Total precipitation, this should include rain and snow. -->
|precipitation colour= green<!-- Enter "green" for green precipitation colours, remove this line for blue colouring. -->
|Jan precipitation mm=45.8
|Feb precipitation mm=25.8
|Mar precipitation mm=32.1
|Apr precipitation mm=27.3
|May precipitation mm=29.6
|Jun precipitation mm=43.7
|Jul precipitation mm=50
|Aug precipitation mm=57
|Sep precipitation mm=55.3
|Oct precipitation mm=49.3
|Nov precipitation mm=44.7
|Dec precipitation mm=47.5
|year precipitation mm=
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 9
|Feb precipitation days = 8
|Mar precipitation days = 7
|Apr precipitation days = 5
|May precipitation days = 7
|Jun precipitation days = 9
|Jul precipitation days = 9
|Aug precipitation days = 10
|Sep precipitation days = 11
|Oct precipitation days = 9
|Nov precipitation days = 8
|Dec precipitation days = 8
<!-- Mandatory fields, source -->
|source 1= Norwegian Meteorological Institute/eklima (extremes)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norwegian Meteorological Institute |url=http://sharki.oslo.dnmi.no/portal/page?_pageid=73,39035,73_39080&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL}}</ref> yr.no/met.no (means and precipitation) <ref name="yr.o ">{{Cite web |title=yr.no Lærdal |url=https://www.yr.no/en/statistics/table/5-54110/Norway/Vestland/L%C3%A6rdal/L%C3%A6rdal |access-date=4 April 2021 |publisher=yr.no by Norwegian Meteorological Institute}}</ref>
|source 2= Weatheronline climate robot (average highs/lows)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Weatheronline climate robot (Molde average high and low 1996-2020) |url=https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&PLZ=_____&PLZN=_____&WMO=01355&CONT=euro&R=0&LEVEL=162&REGION=0004&LAND=NO&MOD=tab&ART=TMX&NOREGION=1&FMM=1&FYY=1996&LMM=12&LYY=2020}}</ref>
|date=March 2021
}}

===Lærdal tunnel===
The ''[[Lærdal Tunnel|Lærdalstunnel]]'' was built through the [[Aurlandsfjell]] mountains dividing [[Aurland]] from Lærdal. It is the [[List of longest road tunnels|world's longest road tunnel]] ({{As of|2020|lc=y}}) at {{convert|24.5|km}}. Construction began in 1995 and was completed in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The world's longest tunnel |url=http://www.vegvesen.no/region_vest/prosjekter/lardalstunnelen/english.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517051435/http://www.vegvesen.no/region_vest/prosjekter/lardalstunnelen/english.stm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=18 February 2013 |publisher=Statens vegvesen}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Lærdalselvi}}Lærdalselvi river===
[[File:Lærdalselva ved Borgund stavkirke (2).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lærdal river near Borgund Stave Church]]
The River {{ill|Lærdalselvi|no|Lærdalselva}} was traditionally one of the most exclusive [[salmon]] and [[Brown trout|sea trout]] rivers in [[Norway]]. Known by the Norwegian King [[Harald V of Norway|Harald&nbsp;V]] as his second Queen, the river has established Lærdal as one of the meccas of salmon and sea trout [[fly fishing]], among others for the unusual fact that the river offers daylight fishing and dry fly fishing for sea trout. The salmon population was drastically depleted after an infestation with the salmon parasite ''[[Gyrodactylus salaris]]'' in the fall of 1996. After several treatments with [[aluminium sulfate]], there are still problems with the parasite. In fall 2007, a [[Spawn (biology)|smolt]] was again found infected by the parasite, and new treatments started in late March 2008. Because of this parasite, the river was closed to angling for the 2008 season.

The river has formed a large delta at [[Lærdalsøyri]], where huge amounts of [[silt]] and sand have been deposited by the river. Although the area has been spoiled by some unfortunate landfills it is still a sight worth seeing.