Mongolia issues warning over blizzards

Ulan Bator, Dec 23 Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has issued a severe weather warning for several regions, predicting strong winds and blizzards to start on Monday night.

The blizzards are expected to impact the western, central, and southern Gobi provinces over the next two days, resulting in poor road visibility and slippery conditions, the NEMA said on Monday, urging citizens, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to exercise caution and take preventive measures against potential disasters.

In addition, more than 60 per cent of Mongolia's total territory is already covered in snow, according to the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring.

Mongolia, known for its harsh continental climate, frequently experiences extreme weather throughout the year. As one of the few remaining nomadic societies in the world, the country is particularly vulnerable to abrupt and severe weather events.

The combination of frigid temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns often leads to devastating consequences for both human and animal populations, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a tragic example of such risks, over 10 people, mainly nomadic herders, lost their lives in November 2023 due to heavy snow and blizzards in the central province of Tuv and the eastern province of Sukhbaatar.

Earlier this month, the overnight temperatures had dropped to a bone-chilling minus 42 degrees Celsius in Otgon soum, an administrative subdivision of Zavkhan province in western Mongolia.

This marks the coldest temperature recorded in Mongolia so far this winter, the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring had announced.

The agency had forecasted that most parts of Mongolia will experience colder-than-average temperatures throughout the winter.

Last winter, nearly all 21 provinces of the country endured extreme wintry conditions, known locally as "dzud," accompanied by record snowfall, the largest since 1975. Around 90 percent of the country's territory was covered in snow up to 100 centimeters thick, leading to the death of approximately 8 million livestock.

Source: IANS