China Suffers -50C (-58F) For First Time In 54 Years; The Russian Towns And Cities Enduring All-Time Record Cold; Kyrgyzstan’s Lake “That Never Freezes Over” Just Froze Over; + Arctic Blasts For Europe And North America

Cap Allon

China Suffers -50C (-58F) For First Time In 54 Years

China did it, the forecasts were accurate: The northern city of Mohe has logged China’s first -50C since 1969.

During the early hours of Friday, January 20 the official weather international station of Mohe dropped to -50C.

This is the first time in since Februay 15, 1969 that China has officially logged such as benchmark.


For reference, China’s lowest-ever January temperature remains the – 51.5C set in Fuyun, Xinjiang; however, this record is under threat, as a further intensification of the cold is expected into the weekend.

Stay tuned for updates.


The Russian Towns And Cities Enduring All-Time Record Cold

The majority of Asia has been holding exceptionally-cold in recent weeks and months — the depth freeze cannot be overstated.

The slew of MSM articles promoting Central Europe’s winter warmth are nothing but cheap, cherry-picking obfuscations. To the east, the region of Asia enduring persistent and historic cold is some 20x the size of Central Europe. Kazakhstan alone is comparable in size, with this 1,000,000+ km2 nation shivering through one of its coldest winters on record.

Compounding the misery, Western Asia –in particular– is suffering a deadly energy shortage with residents across the likes of Iran, Iraq and Turkmenistan (most of the ‘stans, in fact) suffering rolling blackouts as temperatures plunge below -30C (-22F).

In Afghanistan, hundreds of people are reported to have frozen to death in temperatures not seen for half a century.

While Uzbekistan’s president has said he is “tormented” by his nation’s failed ability to cope with the energy demand, exclaiming, “Why is this happening in the capital? Why didn’t we prepare in advance?”.

Desperate Uzbeks are turning to stealing gas, and are being shot as a result. Gas boilers are also exploding due to frozen pipes, killing people. This is not considered newsworthy in the west, for it would no doubt harm ‘The Narrative’ — facts often do.

Though desperate, Uzbek officials had turned down an offer from Russia to reverse-flow extra gas supplies to Uzbekistan in return for the handover of assets including the country’s gas transmission system. However, given the worsening crisis that deal may be back on the table (a scenario I’m sure Putin hoped would play out in Europe this winter; however, and as global energy CEOs recently forewarned, Europe’s real energy woes are due to hit next year).

“[The] energy crisis in Central Asia is so bad that families with children are forced to sleep in the cars because the latter are warmer than the houses,” writes Bishkek-based ethnographer Asel Doolotkeldieva.

While shifting north, into Russia, the Siberian village of Tongulah broke its all-time record low temperature on three occasions this week, bottoming out at -62.7C (-80.9F) on Weds, Jan 18 (Russia’s lowest January temperature since 1982).

Also worth noting, residents of the eastern Siberian village of Essey are adamant that their thermometers plunged to -75C (-103F). This would have been a new worldwide low for a location outside of Antarctica, Essey lacks an official UGMS station, meaning the reading could not be verified.

This part of the world –that is to say the majority of Asia— suffers from poor weather station coverage–which is just as well for the warmists as the busted records would list in the thousands if thermometer coverage was on par with, say, Central Europe.

Average-wise, Russian towns and cities, such as Norilsk, the world’s northernmost city, are suffering anomalies of more than -14C below the January norm, which in the case of Norlisk is also 2C below its coldest January average on record — as recently tweeted by Zdenek Nejedly:


Asia’s freeze is unprecedented, widespread and long-lasting, but the legacy media is keen to keep western citizens in the dark, focusing instead on winter’s late start in Europe–winter that is now well underway, by the way, and returning with a vengeance.

The snow is back:


As is the cold:


Kyrgyzstan’s Lake “That Never Freezes Over” Just Froze Over

Staying in Asia, Kyrgyzstan’s famous Issyk-Kul lake has done something miraculous: Extreme cold conditions this past weekend saw the “lake that never freezes over” freeze over.

Issyk-Kul is located in the northeastern part of the Central Asian nation.

As well as boasting majestic, other-worldly scenery, the lake is of intrigue to scientists as its waters never freeze due to the sheer depth of the lake and its natural warmth — hence the name Issyk-Kul, which translate as “warm lake”.

But on Jan 14, thick ice formed across the body of water, with bemused locals saying, “we have never seen anything like it”:


“In some places the ice was 1.5 meters (5ft) thick,” one local told Reuters.

Temperatures south of -30C (-22F) have engulfed this region of late — historically low levels rarely endured here.

And Asia’s big freeze is showing no signs of abating, either.

Below is the outlook for central Russia on Saturday, Jan 21–with Mongolia and northernmost China to the south.

The light pinks indicate temperature anomalies of as much as -30C below the winter average.

GFS outlook: Extreme freeze forecast to persist across Siberia (Jan 21).


Arctic air masses are predicted to continue extending to the southeast, too, with Kazakhstan (all the ‘stans, in fact), as well as the likes of Iraq and Iran, and even parts of India enduring more of the same in the days and weeks ahead (with Delhi having already endured its eighth ‘cold wave’ day this month, the most in at least 12 years, with a third of the month left to run).

Polar cold –as hinted at above– is also clipping Western and Central Europe this week, with much more on the cards…


Arctic Blasts For Europe And North America

Finishing with the latest GFS runs for Europe and North America, fierce freezes are on the cards for both.

The GFS is slow to propagate this morning, but here’s what the available data is showing, starting with Europe:

GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies (C) for Jan 31 – Feb 4 [tropicaltidbits.com].


Note the continent’s snowfall totals, which look truly astonishing:

GFS Total Snowfall (cm) for Jan 20 – Feb 4 [tropicaltidbits.com].


And here’s North America:

GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies (C) for Jan 29 [tropicaltidbits.com].

GFS Total Snowfall (cm) for Jan 20 – Feb 4 [tropicaltidbits.com].


Enjoy your weekend!

I’m off out to sow more summer crops, including melons and cucumbers.

It’s been chilly here in Central Portugal of late, but I’m keen to get a head start on this year’s plantings. We have a lot of seeds sprouting already (thanks to our new polytunnel). While on the livestock front, our pregnant ‘mama’ (or ‘momma’) goat is about to drop. At the third time of asking, we’re praying she gives us a girl (for future milking).