Under Mongolian Blue Sky

Dear Whoever You Are,

Today the weather was so strange. On my way to my Mongolian lesson the sun was so bright that my eyes watered violently and I could hardly see. I didn't have any sunglasses to wear because I lost mine when I was horsebackriding in Terelj a few weekends ago. After my lesson I went to the studio for a while and finished reading a book about Picasso. By this time the sky had turned grey and I thought perhaps that it might be my lucky day, i.e. it might rain. I left the studio to go to UB Mart, a small department store, to find some new sunglasses for my upcoming trip out of UB. As I walked the smallest flakes of snow began to be blown around in the wind. It looked as if it could've just been the ash of a small fire. But slowly, slowly the flakes got bigger and bigger until massive puffs of snow were falling down and the sky was full of it. The puffs were flying in my eyes and I could feel them land on my lips and nose with light thumps. By the time I got to UB Mart--maybe a 25 minute walk–-my hair was nearly drenched. When I left the store about an hour later the sky was more than half clear and most of the wetness from the snow had already evaporated off the ground.

The Weather Report, Revisited

Alas, I've been giving you false data. Blame the BBC. For some reason they can't accurately report the current temperature in Outer Mongolia.

I've been instructed to check my temps elsewhere; this evening, this is what I found:

-17º F / -27º C
Smoke

There's no need for me to elaborate.

The Weather Report

Sun and clear blue skies in Ulaanbaatar today.
Max Temp: -14° C (6° F); Min Temp: -33° C (-27° F)
The landscape is covered with a nice layer of powdery white snow. The chill in the air reminds me of growing up in Minnesota in the late 70s/early 80s when you could still get a couple feet of snow overnight and the windchill was regularly -30º F.

Incidentally, at these temps the roads in UB are covered with a thin sheet of ice. No amount of traffic can melt it. As if crossing the street wasn't enough of an adventure!

Winter among Mongolians is considered to begin at the Winter Solstice which occurs here on December 22. The season lasts for nine cycles of nine days. We are now midway through the third nine (гурван ёс / gurvan youc), and I'm trying to ignore the fact that there are six nines to go. Just as other cities are experiencing abnormally high temps--I heard it was 75 degrees in New York City last week--several Mongolian friends have explained to me that this weather is bad; it's too warm and there's not enough snow. I'm secretly relieved that we not experiencing the normal cold: -25º C (-13º F) during the day, -45º C (-49º F) at night. 

The Weather Report

-13° C / 9° F
Partly Cloudy
Wind: 36 km/h / 22 mph from the NNW
Windchill: -24° C / -12° F

The sun doesn't rise until 8:34 a.m., and it sets at 5:00 p.m. That leaves us with an eight and a half hour day.

[This regular feature of UMBS is inspired by Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I read on Tuesday night. However, don't bother looking for a secret message--there isn't one!]

SNOW!

Yes, I woke up to UB's first snow this morning. Upon waking late, I went to the window to see if I could divine the temperature outside. I gaped at the white flakes falling and collecting on the tree leaves on the other side of the pane.

I put on my warm gear and headed outside to find the air temp to be surprisingly mild. On my way to NUM, I shed my gloves, hat and scarf and unzipped my outer layer. My strategy is to try to conserve my warmest clothes for the coldest days, so I don't end up being freezing all the time.

After my lesson, I was quite comfortable in only my thermal jacket. By then, the temperature had risen and all the snow melted. Now the sun shines.