Mehamn

History

Whaling

Svend Foyn established the whaling station in Mehamn that was built in 1884-1885. It was put into use starting in the spring of 1885, and it became the largest of its kind in Finnmark County. After Foyn’s death in 1894, the whaling station was run by Foyn’s whaling company. Svend Foyn also established the Svend Foyn Chapel, in Mehamn starting in 1887.

Mehamn Rebellion

The background for the Mehamn rebellion was a period of miserable cod and capelin fishing. The fishermen blamed the local whaling. They believed that the whales chased the fish towards the shore. With few whales left, the fish stayed out of reach. Frustrations were growing by the day during the spring of 1903. By Whitsunday, about 2000 angry fishermen were in the harbor in Mehamn. At the time, the village had 123 permanent residents.

When the new manager of the whaling station denied help to a fishing boat that came from the sea with a broken helm, the fishermen had had enough. On 2 June 1903, a large number of them gathered outside the factory. During the following two days, machinery was destroyed, chimneys were torn down, and the large steam boilers were sunk. The guard and the single police officer could do nothing but watch. Military forces from Vardø and Harstad were mobilized, but did not reach Mehamn before the factory was completely destroyed and the situation was calm again.

Some of the vandals were caught and convicted. They received very light sentences in jail and then the following autumn, general elections were held, and the Labour Party, which had fought for the protection of the whales, entered parliament for the first time with four MPs. They all represented the three northernmost counties of Norway. They were said to have "ridden to Parliament on a whale’s back." In December, a law was passed ensuring the preservation of the whales in Norwegian waters off the coast of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark.

1982 air crash

Main article: Widerøe Flight 933

On 11 March 1982, a Widerøe Twin Otter crashed into the sea on approach to Mehamn Airport during the flight from Berlevåg Airport, killing all on board. Despite controversies regarding the cause of the crash, clear-air turbulence over the Mehamnfjorden was determined as the official cause.

Climate

Mehamn has a boreal (subarctic) climate (Köppen: Dsc), with short and cool summers. The winters are long and sometimes windy, but winter temperatures are moderated by the nearby open sea and mild for the latitude. Mehamn is also sometimes affected by heat waves, the heat waves in 2018 and 2022 both saw high temperatures above 30 C.

|Jan record high C = 7.0 |Feb record high C = 7.0 |Mar record high C = 7.8 |Apr record high C = 11.7 |May record high C = 20.7 |Jun record high C = 30.8 |Jul record high C = 31.2 |Aug record high C = 28.4 |Sep record high C = 22.5 |Oct record high C = 15.0 |Nov record high C = 9.1 |Dec record high C = 8.0 |year record high C = 31.2 |Jan avg record high C = 4.7 |Feb avg record high C = 4.5 |Mar avg record high C = 4.5 |Apr avg record high C = 7.5 |May avg record high C = 14.3 |Jun avg record high C = 19.9 |Jul avg record high C = 24.9 |Aug avg record high C = 23.2 |Sep avg record high C = 17.5 |Oct avg record high C = 10.9 |Nov avg record high C = 6.8 |Dec avg record high C = 5.5 |year avg record high C = 26.2 |Jan avg record low C = -14.7 |Feb avg record low C = -14.6 |Mar avg record low C = -12.3 |Apr avg record low C = -9.1 |May avg record low C = -3.7 |Jun avg record low C = 1.7 |Jul avg record low C = 4.6 |Aug avg record low C = 2.3 |Sep avg record low C = 0.0 |Oct avg record low C = -5.7 |Nov avg record low C = -9.4 |Dec avg record low C = -11.0 |year avg record low C = -16.9 |Jan record low C = -19.0 |Feb record low C = -21.4 |Mar record low C = -16.8 |Apr record low C = -13.4 |May record low C = -8.7 |Jun record low C = -0.1 |Jul record low C = 0.0 |Aug record low C = -0.7 |Sep record low C = -7.0 |Oct record low C = -10.6 |Nov record low C = -13.4 |Dec record low C = -17.0 |year record low C = -21.4 |Jan snow depth cm = 48 |Feb snow depth cm = 46 |Mar snow depth cm = 45 |Apr snow depth cm = 39 |May snow depth cm = 15 |Jun snow depth cm = 0 |Jul snow depth cm = 0 |Aug snow depth cm = 0 |Sep snow depth cm = 0 |Oct snow depth cm = 17 |Nov snow depth cm = 24 |Dec snow depth cm = 26 |year snow depth cm = 50 |Jan dew point C = -7.6 |Feb dew point C = -7.5 |Mar dew point C = -6.2 |Apr dew point C = -3.3 |May dew point C = 0.1 |Jun dew point C = 3.5 |Jul dew point C = 7.5 |Aug dew point C = 7.0 |Sep dew point C = 4.5 |Oct dew point C = 0.0 |Nov dew point C = -3.4 |Dec dew point C = -5.2 |year dew point C = -0.9 |access-date = September 21, 2023}}{{cite web |access-date = October 9, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231009100507/https://www.met.no/kss//attachment/download/a2d191d6-b9ef-4d78-ac26-9eee4ce28743:969dfb48bad54d95b9dca7685778f05448f42892/StNormaler_mnd_middeltemp_1991-2020.txt |archive-date = 2023-10-09}}{{cite web |access-date = October 12, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231012100858/https://www.met.no/kss//attachment/download/2aa2056c-c637-4373-92d2-cac3989dcd05:c3f2b161e4bf474af587cd4a4e8f3b78a24bc530/StNormaler_mnd_nedbor_1991-2020.txt |archive-date = 2023-10-12}}}}

Transportation

Norwegian County Road 888 connects Mehamn to the European route E6 highway at the base of the Nordkinn Peninsula, and from there on to the towns of Kirkenes in the east and Alta in the west. Mehamn is a port of call for the Hurtigruten coastal ship. Mehamn is also connected by air via Mehamn Airport, with services by Widerøe to the nearby city of Tromsø.

References

References

1. "Mehamn". [[yr.no]].
2. D.N.Ostrovskij, Putevoditel’ po Severu Rossii (St.Petersburg 1899)
3. Statistisk sentralbyrå. (1 January 2017). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality".
4. [http://www.kystmuseene.no/200-years-since-the-birth-of-svend-foyn.4543102-107295.html ''200 years since the birth of Svend Foyn'' (Kystmuseene)] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-24)
5. "Whaling through the ages". Kystmuseene.
6. "Aviation Safety Network".
7. "Mehamn LH Meteorological station, Gamvik, Troms og Finnmark (Norway), elevation 13m (July 2018)". [[Norwegian Meteorological Institute]].
8. "Mehamn LH Meteorological station, Gamvik, Troms og Finnmark (Norway), elevation 13m (June 2022)". [[Norwegian Meteorological Institute]].
9. "Ports". Hurtigruten.us.
10. "Mehamn Airport". avinor.no.