40 per cent of Mongolia's territory faces high risk of experiencing harsh winter

At least 40 per cent of Mongolia's territory is now at high risk of experiencing the extreme wintry weather 'dzud' this winter, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said Friday.

The dzud is a Mongolian term to describe a severely cold winter when many livestock die because the ground is frozen or covered in snow.

"A recent risk assessment of the dzud indicates that at least 40 per cent of the country's total territory faces a high risk of dzud this winter, while 20 per cent is categorized as medium risk," the weather monitoring agency said in a statement.

Most areas in the five western provinces, Bayan-Ulgii, Uvs, Khovd, Zavkhan, and Gobi-Altai, are at high or very high risk, the agency warned, Xinhua news agency reported.

Additionally, some parts of the northern provinces, Khuvsgul, Selenge, and Bulgan, the central provinces of Arkhangai and Uvurkhangai, and smaller areas of the southern provinces of Bayankhongor and Dundgovi are also at high risk.

The agency urged local authorities and nomadic herders to prepare for potential challenges to mitigate the impacts of the harsh winter conditions.

Mongolia, one of the world's last remaining nomadic nations, is known for its extreme winters, largely shaped by the Siberian high-pressure system.

Last winter, the Asian country experienced its heaviest snowfall in five decades, leading to a severe dzud that resulted in the loss of millions of livestock.

On December 23, Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had issued a severe weather warning for several regions, predicting strong winds and blizzards.

The blizzards were expected to impact the western, central, and southern Gobi provinces, resulting in poor road visibility and slippery conditions. The NEMA had urged citizens, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to exercise caution and take preventive measures against potential disasters.

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.

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