Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Sixth Nine Nine | Zuraasan Zam Garnai

The sixth of the so-called Nine Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—began yesterday, February 4th. This is Zuraasan Zam Garnai, the Time When the Trail of the Road Appears. This description would seem to indicate a slight warming from the previous Nine-Nines, a time when well-traveled trails become free from ice and snow. We did have a slight warm spell, but now temperatures have dropped again, and it’s calling for Minus 35º F tonight, and minus 40º tomorrow night (for those of you asking for temperatures in Celsius, I have but two words: Bite Me!). Tsagaan Sar is of course next week, and forty below 0 F temperatures are not at all uncommon during this holiday. The next Nine-Nine starts on February 13, and by then we can pretty expect the back of winter to be broken.