Landslide scar still visible, seen from Tafjord village
The village is very isolated and (other than by boat) the only way into the valley is by road from the village of Sylte. The road is composed almost entirely of two tunnels through the very steep mountains along the edge of the Tafjorden: the 5.3-kilometre (3.3 mi) Heggur Tunnel and the 700-metre (2,300 ft) long Skjegghammar Tunnel.[2]
Climate
The weather station in Tafjord have been recording since 1925, and holds the record for the warmest temperature in Norway in November at 21.8 °C (71.2 °F). The January record 18.7 °C (65.7 °F) was recorded the night before 29 January 2024. These warm temperatures in winter and late autumn are primarily due to foehn wind.
Climate data for Tafjord 1991-2020 (11 m, extremes 1930-2024)
On 7 April 1934, a rockslide of about 2,000,000 cubic metres (2,600,000 cu yd) of rock fell off the mountain Langhamaren from a height of about 700 metres (2,300 ft). The rock landed in the Tafjorden which created a local tsunami which killed 34 people[5] living on the shore of the fjord. The waves reached a height of 62 metres (203 ft) near the landslide, about 7 metres (23 ft) at Sylte, and about 16 metres (52 ft) at Tafjord. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Norway in the 20th century.[2]
