with strong hot-summer continental climate (Dfa) influences. On 18 January 2012, a temperature of -25.1 °C was recorded by the HNMS's station with several reports, however, in the local press for temperatures in villages of the municipality that reached -32 °C, but there was no official record of such temperature. The National Observatory of Athens's station reported a temperature of -22.2 °C a day earlier in Florina, while the same station continuously recorded minimum temperatures below -20 °C from 16 January 2012 until 19 January 2012, with the average maximum temperature for January just -0.6 °C, and the prevalence for 13 consecutive days of temperatures below 0 °C 24 hours a day. The above situation resulted in the Greek General Secretariat of Civil Protection to declare the municipality of Florina in a state of emergency on 16 January 2012, at the request of the mayor of Florina, due to the polar temperatures and the intense snowfall that prevailed for days. Name The city's original Byzantine name, Χλέρινον (Chlérinon, "full of green vegetation"), derives from the Greek word χλωρός (chlōrós, "fresh" or "green vegetation"). The name was sometimes Latinized as Florinon (from the Latin flora, "vegetation") in the later Byzantine period, and in early Ottoman documents the forms Chlerina and Florina are both used, with the latter becoming standard after the 17th century. The form with [f] (φλωρός) is a local dialect form of χλωρός in Greek. The local Slavic name for the city is Lerin (Лерин), which is a borrowing of the Byzantine Greek name, but with the loss of the initial characteristic of the local dialect. The Albanian name for the city is . In Aromanian, it is , while in both Bulgarian and Macedonian, it is Лерин (Lerin). Municipality The current municipality of Florina was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that since 2011 became municipal units: Florina Kato Kleines Meliti Perasma The municipality has an area of 819.698 km2, and the municipal unit 150.634 km2. Municipal Unit subdivisions The municipal unit of Florina is further divided into the following communities: Alona Armenochori Florina Koryfi Mesonisi Proti Skopia Trivouno History Within the boundaries of the present-day city lie the remains of a Hellenistic settlement on the hill of Agios Panteleimon. Archaeologists excavated on the site in 1930–1934, but a hotel was later built over the ruins. Excavations began