Ulan Bator Experiences Record Low Temperature This Winter

Synopsis

On February 7, Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, recorded its coldest night of the winter season with temperatures dropping to minus 37 degrees Celsius. This extreme weather highlights the ongoing harsh conditions faced by the country.

Key Takeaways

Ulan Bator hit minus 37 degrees Celsius.
80% of Mongolia is covered in snow.
Last winter saw significant livestock losses due to severe dzud.
The government aims to stockpile meat for spring 2025.
Ulan Bator is home to half of Mongolia's population.

Ulan Bator, Feb 7 (NationPress) The capital of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, faced its coldest night of the season, with temperatures plunging to a chilling minus 37 degrees Celsius, as per the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring.

This temperature is officially the lowest recorded in the city this winter, as stated by the agency on Friday.

In late January, temperatures fell to minus 44.4 degrees Celsius in Otgon soum, a district in Zavkhan province in western Mongolia, marking the coldest temperature noted nationwide this winter.

Earlier this week, the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring revealed that nearly 80 percent of the country is covered in snow.

"As of January 31, around 80 percent of the total land area has been blanketed in snow, with depths reaching up to 60 cm," the weather agency disclosed.

Mongolia is recognized for its severe winters, significantly influenced by the Siberian high-pressure system.

Last winter, the nation faced one of its most intense cold periods in decades, experiencing the highest snowfall recorded since 1975. Approximately 90 percent of the area was enveloped in snow, some regions up to 100 cm thick, causing a severe dzud, a unique natural disaster in Mongolia that hampers livestock access to food, resulting in mass animal deaths.

The harsh dzud from last winter led to the demise of millions of livestock, severely impacting herders and the rural economy, as reported by Xinhua.

Dzud, a term from Mongolia, describes a disastrous winter where livestock perish due to frozen or snow-covered pastures, jeopardizing the livelihoods of nomadic herders.

Last week, the Mongolian government announced plans to stockpile at least 10,000 tonnes of livestock meat to ensure a consistent supply for residents of the capital during the spring of 2025.

Authorities have been designated to manage the supply, distribution, quality, and safety of the preserved meat, as per a government press office statement on Wednesday.

During the harsh spring months, as nomadic animals lose weight and herders have fewer livestock to sell, meat prices in urban areas tend to escalate, leading to possible shortages.

Ulan Bator is home to nearly half of Mongolia's 3.5 million residents, and livestock meat serves as the primary food source for the population.

As one of the few remaining nomadic nations worldwide, Mongolia reported 57.6 million livestock by the end of 2024, according to the National Statistics Office.