Down to the frozen river

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Friday, February 24, 2012

Today the temperature was up to -10C/14F, and the time seemed right to spend a sunny afternoon on the frozen Tuul River. A gusting wind, however, shortened our fun. Brrr! Nonetheless, there was time for some hot chocolate heated on the camp stove (thanks, U!) and much sliding and rolling about on the ice.

Note: UB's power plant in the background and the prayer flags in the bushes.

-17°C: Spring!

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, February 4, 2012

This afternoon Frank fired up the computer and soon joyfully announced that it was above 0° Fahrenheit (-18°C). That is SPRING compared to the last two weeks of bitter cold! I celebrated by going for a jog with one less layer of clothing. I also took along Frank's GPS watch and inscribed a message. See if you can read it...

Weather forecast

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I'll just let Wunderground's weather forecast for the rest of the week speak for itself:

Tonight: -42 °F (-41 °C), Partly Cloudy
Tomorrow: -15 °F (-26 °C), Clear
Tomorrow Night: -45 °F (-43 °C), Clear
Friday: -17 | -45 °F (-27 | -43 °C), Partly Cloudy
Saturday: -13 | -44 °F (-25 | -42 °C), Clear
Sunday: -11 | -42 °F (-24 | -41 °C), Clear

The world is white

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Weird weather this weekend left all trees, plants, fences (everything, really!) covered in a thick, frost-like layer of ice crystals. Meanwhile this weekend I also learned from friends how to make these wonderful snowflakes out of paper.

The whole world is white...

Sledding at -20°C

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, November 20, 2011

You can't stay out long when it's -20°C (-4°F), but it was time enough for a couple of good runs on the levee...

First snow

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Woke up to a gray sky and snow all around this morning. It's not too cold and it probably won't last long, but the first snow is here!

Managed to jog this afternoon anyway. We'll see what happens to the running when the really cold weather returns...

The ice man cometh

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Upon our return to Ulaanbaatar this evening, we were greeted by two shining (life-size) ice warriors at the entrance of our apartment complex. No doubt they will be completely safe (from melting) for many months to come...

It's good to be home!

Light a fire

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Tuesday, November 23, 2010

To be fair, it's only 5.0 °F (-15.0 °C) outside right now--though it felt colder when we walked home an hour ago. But just now I looked out the window and noticed two gentlemen under the hood of a car with what appeared to be an open flame. Further inspection revealed that they were most likely trying to warm the engine block enough to get the car started. But still, I am not sure that holding burning pieces of wood under the hood of one's car is such a good idea.

(A few minutes later they gave up and pushed the car across the parking lot -- what? to await spring?)

The world is white, for a while

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Woke this morning to the first snowfall of the year. The mountains surrounding UB were covered in a lovely layer of white, and the courtyard below was pristine. Birds swooped around the courtyard, dark against the white. I commented to A that the birds might have a harder time finding breakfast this morning. She replied: "Well, they can eat the snow if they want to."

By late afternoon, worker bees had removed most of the snow into piles around the courtyard, and the parking lot was a sea of floating slush. Sadly, if the snow is allowed to "stick" around, it becomes an icy, icy hazard.

But it's always lovely, at least for a while.

Winter is a-comin'

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Yesterday morning it snowed. They were big flaky snowflakes, and they didn't stick around long, but it was definitely snow. On the way to work, the hills surrounding UB were also covered in white.

Today's visit to the Naran Tuul (the Black Market) revealed stacks of long underwear, hats, and boots of all kinds on display.

Yep, winter is a-comin'.

72° F!

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Friday, April 30, 2010

OMG! It got up to 72° F (22° C) this afternoon. Just think, that's 117° F (64° C) above our winter low of -45° F (-42° C). After work, I put on a tank top and jeans and just walked around the courtyard in a daze...

Yes, those are raindrops

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Friday, April 23, 2010

As previously mentioned, Mongolia has a very dry climate--although there is a rainy season of sorts in August. And, as previously mentioned, it has been a very long, very cold winter.

On my walk home this afternoon, I was delighted to see my first rain in seven months. That's quite a dry spell for this Seattle girl.

But what you see in the picture was about the extent of it.

Sun & snow

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

It snowed again today, and according to my colleagues, it has snowed a lot more this year than usual. Certainly temperatures have been brutally cold throughout Mongolia this winter, and over two million livestock have died already this winter. I say "already" because 1) winter is not over and 2) spring is often the worst time for animal deaths due to low fodder. At any rate, the snow here is really weird stuff: it falls in tiny, grainy flakes--and then, for the most part, blows away. Unless, of course, it has time to be packed down--at which point it turns into deadly slippery stuff. But the sun shines brilliantly almost every day...

Snowy view from work

Moonscape duststorm

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Only today as we drove back to UB from our short weekend escape did we really get to appreciate the stunning beauty of the drive. Yesterday afternoon when we drove out to the resort where we stayed, the wind was blowing snow all over the road--and then a dust storm kicked in as well. The gently rolling hills along the drive were covered with some snow, but it's not particularly deep on the land because the wind blows the super-dry snow around like the shifting sands of the desert.

So, blowing snow on the roads in winter is nothing unusual but a dust storm mixed with blowing snow IS fairly unusual. It may be related to the drought experienced in parts of Mongolia last summer which reduced the vegetation and, in turn, loosened up the top soil to blow around. But that's just speculation on my part.

D is for Dzud (and for Disaster)

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Friday, January 29, 2010

It seems that there are winters in Mongolia and then there are winters. This winter appears to be one of the latter, and livestock have started dying across Mongolia in huge numbers. Estimates are that over one million sheep, goats, cows, horses and yaks have died over the last 4-6 weeks. These animal die-offs occur when the snow gets too deep for the animals to graze. This year's situation is worsened by this year's severe temperatures, and the drought that Mongolia experienced last summer. This phenomenon is called a dzud (or disaster) and usually occurs in spring when fodder is already growing scarce.

Mongolia has about 2.7 million people and almost 20 million goats and about 3 million horses. No idea about the number of cows, sheep and yaks...

For a fascinating read on Mongolia's grazing situation, try this NY Times article entitled "The End of Pastoralism."

Ice ads

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Here, indeed, is the perfect place for ice sculptures. Or ice ads. Just put 'em up in November or so, and you've got your advertisement set until, say, April? This one seems to be advertizing some kind of orange drink, not exactly what I thirst for at these frigid temperatures.

(You can't quite tell, but this sculpture is about 2 meters/6 feet high.)

Fabric shopping at -24 °C

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Saturday, January 9, 2010

I am not quite sure what possessed us, but I went silk shopping with a friend this afternoon in the middle of a serious cold snap here in UB. While we were out at the warmest part of the day (at 2:00 PM it was -24° C /-11° F), shopping at an outdoor market in these temperatures is serious business. I can't say we really lingered over the many, many gorgeous fabrics. After about 15 minutes, we could no longer feel our feet and taking off mittens to pay for things was painful, to say the least.

I am still marveling at the fact that these market workers work OUTSIDE all winter long in temperatures down to -40° C/F.

Mongolians are a tough people.

For sale: Buttons worn on the traditional Mongolian national dress called the del.

100 meters away & ABBA, too

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Thursday, January 7, 2010

Breaking news! In the three weeks we were gone in Thailand, a REAL grocery store has opened in our apartment complex. Okay, its vegetable section consists of onions, carrots, potatoes, and Chinese cabbage, but it ALSO has tomatoes and cucumbers. And fresh bread. And several hunks of cheese for sale, too. It's still not the relative "plenty" we see at the main market downtown, but when it's MINUS 28 C outside, I'll take it!

Oh, and they were blasting ABBA on their high tech stereo system. Really now, what else could you ask for?

Green onions, maybe.

Collecting data at -30 °C

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I took a school field trip today that redefined my definition of hell--and not because the students were difficult: they were angels. It was the weather. When we left school at 8:30am it was -31 °F / -35 °C.

The purpose of the field trip was to collect pollution data of various kinds (air & noise pollution as well as loose trash and other data). We stopped at 12 locations across Ulaanbaatar, and the kids got off the bus at each location to collect their data.

By the time we reached the 6th data spot, many of us could no longer feel our feet. Fortunately a cozy cafe appeared close to the 6th or 7th data point, and we piled in and ordered hot chocolates for everyone. When the sensation had returned to our toes, we hurried back onto the bus and resumed our data collection.

When we got back to school about noon, Frank reminded me that innermost circle of Dante's hell is ice. I think I'll be doing a bit of catching up on my classics because I think Dante might have been onto something.

River running

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 22, 2009

With the temperatures back in the balmy 20's (F), Frank headed out for a nice long run along the Tuul river this afternoon. As he got further from the city, he ran past series of ovoos, or religious cairns. Ovoos come in a variety of forms: they can be special trees, piles of rocks, or built from wood. People fasten silk scarves or khata to the ovoos.

This location is at the base of a sacred mountain and is apparently a particularly auspicuous place for making various ceremonies. At least in the summer.

I am not sure how many hardy souls are out at this location at this time of year...