CLIMATE OF MONGOLIA: WEATHER EXTREMES, SEASONS AND LITTLE RAIN

CLIMATE OF MONGOLIA

Climate map of Mongolia

The climate of Mongolia is desert-like in the south and continental, with large daily and seasonal temperature ranges, in the north. Mongolia's climate can be extreme, with low precipitation and long harsh winters where temperatures can reach -50̊C ( -58̊F) . An average of 236 days of the year are sunny. Crystal clear blue skies and sunshine can sometimes make even the coldest temperatures seem pleasant. Humidity levels are relatively low throughout the year, averaging about 65 percent during summer and 75 percent during winter.

Mongolia is high, cold, and dry with large expanses of deserts and semi-deserts. It has sharp seasonal fluctuations and variation, little precipitation, long, cold winters and short summers, during which most precipitation falls. Because Mongolia is situated so far from any sea and has a relatively high elevation, the weather is predominately dry, and characterized by great extremes of hot and cold on a daily and yearly basis. It can be as cold as Siberia in the winter and as hot as the Sahara in the Gobi in the summer. In the deserts daytime and nighttime differences of 50 degrees C (90 degrees F) have been recorded. It is also very windy and often sunny with beautiful blue skies and great stars on the clear, cold nights. In the steppes and deserts winds of 50mph are not uncommon. Most places have at least 250 sunny days a year.

Mongolia stretches over a very large area and there is great deal of variation from north to south. The winters in the northern areas are particularly harsh and long, with more snow. Ulaan Baatar, which is situated in the north, has the distinction of being the world’s coldest capital. It is colder than Moscow or Helsinki. The winters in the southern areas are shorter and a little milder but still cold. Summers range from brisk in the north to hot in the south. The average temperature nationwide is around 25 degrees C.

Weather Patterns in Mongolia

Mongolia is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north, which averages 20 to 35 centimeters per year, and lowest in the south, which receives 10 to 20 centimeters. The extreme south is the Gobi, some regions of which receive no precipitation at all in most years. [Source: Library of Congress, June 1989 ]

During the harsh winters, the average low temperature in some places in northern Mongolia is -28 degrees C (-18 degrees F). Siberian winds can send the temperature plummeting to -45 degrees C (-50 degrees F) and snow covers much of country. In Ulaan Baatar, the high temperatures are usually well below freezing. The winters are so cold that people often all sleep together on a “kang” (a huge bed over an oven). The snows tends to fall in squalls and flurries rather than storms although severe blizzards do occur from time to time. The snow on the ground tends to be icy and crusty. In the mountains snow can accumulate to great depths. Steady, strong winds blow across the steppes. In some places the winds are so strong and the blizzards are so blinding that ropes are set up between building so people will not lose their way.

There is a short rainy season, with brief intermittent showers, that falls sometime between mid-July and September. Snow often shows up in September. Often times the rain is spotty. Huge thunder heads will blow across the steppe and desert, drooping heavy rains in one place and completely bypassing another. In the summer be prepared for the swarms of sweat-sucking flies in the Gobi and clouds of mosquitos in northern Mongolia.

Climate Variations and Seasons in Mongolia

temperature map Mongila

Mongolia's weather is characterized by extreme variability and short-term unpredictability in the summer, and the multiyear averages conceal wide variations in precipitation, dates of frosts, and occurrences of blizzards and spring dust storms. In the winter often high winds blow away the light snow cover, causing the ground to freeze deeply.Such weather poses severe challenges to human and livestock survival.

Winter is long and severe, typically lasting from October through April, with average temperatures around -24°C (-13°F) and ranging from -30°C to -21°C (-22°F to -5°F). . All rivers and freshwater lakes freeze over in the winter, and smaller streams commonly freeze to the bottom. Spring is brief, usually lasting five to six weeks, and is often marked by strong winds and dust storms. Summer extends from June through August and is relatively short and mild, with an average temperature of about 20°C (68°F) and ranging from 10° to 27°C (50° to 80°F).. In summer, remnants of the south-easterly monsoon bring most of the year’s precipitation. Autumn is a five-to six-week transition period around September.

The temperatures difference between north and south are most pronounced in the summers. Ulaan Baatar and the Siberian plateau can be chilly even in July and August, with highs often only in the 10s C (50s and 60s F). In the Gobi desert, however, the summers are very hot. Temperatures often rises above 38 degrees C (100 degrees F) or even 43 degrees C (110 degrees F) during the afternoon and then sometimes drop into the single digits C (40s F) at night. Nights across Mongolia tend to be cool or cold. Spring and autumn are cool as well.

Rainfall and Snow in Mongolia

Mongolia receives very little rain. and would receive even less if it wasn't for the mountains which bring precipitation to themselves and to the areas on their windward sides. Precipitation averages 33 centimeters (13 inches) per year, with the Gobi Desert in the south averaging 7.6 centimeters (three inches) per year, but reaches 61 centimeters (24 inches) in some areas of the north. Most of the precipitation comes during the summer months in the form of rain, but devastating icestorms and snowstorms, known as dzuds (zhuds), can occur in the winter (October to March). [Source: “Culture and Customs of Mongolia” by Timothy Michael May, Greenwood Press, 2009]

Most of Mongolia receives between 25 and 55 centimeters (10 and 20 inches) of rain a year. Some mountains and foothills areas receive 40 to 160 centimeters 16 to 63 (inches) of precipitation a year. The heaviest precipitation is in the mountains and on their windward sides and the mountains in northwest Mongolia. In the desert areas many places receive less than 10 centimeters a year (3.9 inches).

Ulaanbaatar lies at 1,351 meters (4,432 feet) above sea level in the valley of the Tuul Gol, a river in the relatively well-watered north, it receives an annual average of 31 centimeters (12.2 inches) of precipitation, almost all of which falls in July and August. Grain, mostly wheat, is grown in the valleys of the Selenge river system in the north, but yields fluctuate widely and unpredictably as a result of the amount and the timing of rain and the dates of killing frosts. [Source: Library of Congress, June 1989 *]

Although winters are generally cold and clear, there are occasional blizzards that do not deposit much snow but cover the grasses with enough snow and ice to make grazing impossible, killing off tens of thousands of sheep or cattle. Such losses of livestock, which are an inevitable and, in a sense, normal consequence of the climate, have made it difficult for planned increases in livestock numbers to be achieved. *

Fewer than 70 percent of Mongolia's lands have a consistent water supply. Access to surface waters and wells is often cut off by winter freezes. Melted snow and ice then serve as water sources for residential and commercial use during the winter. The water situation is relatively better in the north because of its major rivers and heavier precipitation. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Physical Geography, Gale Group, Inc., 2003.

Temperatures in Mongolia

Mongolia has large daily and seasonal temperature variations. Temperatures often fall sharply after sunset, and differences between summer and winter conditions are among the most extreme in the world. Mongolia average winter temperatures are -21° to -6°C (-6° to -22°F). During the coldest periods, particularly in January, temperatures can drop below -52°C (-62°F) in some areas. [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Spring is brief, usually lasting five to six weeks, and is often marked by strong winds and dust storms. Summer extends from June through August and is relatively short and mild, with an average temperature of about 20°C (68°F). Typical summer temperatures range from 10°C to 27°C (50°F to 80°F), although higher temperatures can occur in desert regions. Autumn is another short transitional season, lasting about five to six weeks around September before the onset of winter.

Ulaanbaatar, is the coldest capital in the world. The Average temperature Ulaanbaatar in January is -32°C to 19°C (-26°F to -2°F). The average temperature there in July is 11°C to 22°C (52°F to 72°F), Ulaanbaatar has an average annual temperature of -2.9°C (26.8°F) and is only frost-free from mid-June to late August. Mongolia as a whole experiences temperature ranges with lows from −40 to −52° C (−40 to −61° F) in January to highs from 28̊ to 43°C (82̊ to 109°F) Fahrenheit in the Gobi in July. Even so, the temperature can drop thirty° at night.[Source: “Culture and Customs of Mongolia” by Timothy Michael May, Greenwood Press, 2009]

Average temperatures over most of the country are below freezing from November through March and are about freezing in April and October. January and February averages of -20°C (-4°F) are common, with winter nights of -40°C (-40°F) occurring most years. Summer extremes reach as high as 38°C (100.4°F) in the southern Gobi region and 33°C (91.4°F) in Ulaanbaatar. More than half the country is covered by permafrost, which makes construction, road building, and mining difficult.

Wind Storms in Mongolia

Winds blow across Mongolia throughout the year. In the steppes and deserts, winds of 60mph are not uncommon. They produce severe snowstorms in the winter and in the fall and are particularly intense in the spring, when periodic fierce sand storms strike. Sometimes dust storms blow in that blot out the sky with fine dust particles that creep inside buildings despite efforts to keep them out and force airports and bazaars to close down. Some of the strong winds result from the sun heating up the air and making it rise. The wind is cooler air sweeping in to take its place. The great sandstorms are caused by turbulence caused by the collision of massive fronts of cold Siberian wind and hot winds coming up from Southeast Asia.

Wind storms blow the soil right off the land and make agriculture nearly impossible. Grass are the only thing that will grow and keep the soil anchored to the ground. In the winter, powerful gusts of bai mao feng — literally "white hairy wind" — can blind drivers and knock their cars off roads. In the spring "a grey brown wall of Gobi desert grit towers in air and blows towards Beijing at towards us at 50 miles an hour. The storms sometimes last for days. If caught in such a storm the best thing to do is take shelter in a vehicle or ger. Backpacker tents often fly into the sky.One good thing about them though is they can keep away the swarms of sweat-sucking flies in the Gobi and clouds of mosquitos in northern Mongolia.

The charismatic explorer, Roy Chapman Andrews, who is said have been a model for Indian Jones and led one of the greatest dinosaur hunts of all time in the early 1920s in the Gobi Desert, said the greatest hardships of his expedition were caused by fierce sandstorm that swept down from Siberia and sometimes blew gravel and sand into the air for days. Describing one such storm, Andrews wrote: "I suddenly became conscious that the air was vibrating with a continuous even roar, which was getting louder each second...In the gray light of dawn we could see an ominous bronze cloud hanging over the rim of the basin." Ten minutes later the storm struck "like a burst of a high-explosive shell. Even with my head covered I heard the rip and crash of falling tents. As our tents swept away, [Granger] had leapt to save the six tiny fossil Cretaceous mammal skulls." The wind tore the clothes off Andrews back and the wind lashed his skin until it bled. "Had our cars not been facing the wind," Andrews wrote, "they would have certainly been overturned." Even so the windshields were so sandblasted they had to be knocked out before the expedition could continue.

Mongolians reportedly love to stand naked in raging sandstorm. They claim the abrasive sand is invigorated like jumping in water in a hole cut in the ice. The tradition purportedly dates by to the Genghis Khan era, when Mongol warriors believed they could achieve immortality by drinking the blood of the horses and taking a sandstorm bath.

Weather in the Gobi Desert

Some regions of the Gobi receive no precipitation at all in most years. The Gobi's aridness is caused by the rainblocking effects of the Altai mountains to the west and Tibetan plateau and the Himalayas some distance away to the south. The Gobi itself lies on a plateau. The average elevation is around 1,400 meters (4,000 feet).

Gobi summers are very hot, with huge extremes between night and day. A typical summer day begins with temperatures around 40 degrees F at sunrise. By 3:00pm it is 100 degrees F. The hottest time of the day is around 5:00pm when the 110 degrees F heat is often accompanied by 40 to 50mph gale winds. During the harsh winters, Siberian winds can send the temperature plummeting to -40 degrees F and the landscape is often covered with a thin layer of crusty snow.

In winter, powerful gusts of bai mao feng — literally "white hairy wind" — can blind drivers and knock their cars off roads. On summer evenings, locals says, hot air seems to rise up from the ground.

Winds howl most of the year and are particularly intense in the spring, when the Gobi is ravaged by periodic fierce sand storms. The great sandstorms in the Gobi are caused by turbulence caused by the collision of massive fronts of cold Siberian wind and hot winds coming up from Southeast Asia. If caught in a particularly nasty wind one should take shelter in a vehicle or ger. Backpacker tents often fly into the sky.

Dzuds

The Mongolia word “dzud” (zud, zhud) refers to weather conditions that prevents animals from getting enough grass to eat. It usually refers to a cycle of summer droughts followed by an extraordinarily cold winter with heavy snow and ice. Animals, underfed from the drought, simply don’t have the strength to fight and endure spells of harsh cold and dig through ice and snow for grass.

The dzud causes great hardship for herders on the steppe, often killing off entire herds of animals. The drought in the summer leaves animals weak and skinny, plus causes shortages of hay needed to keep the animals going in the winter. The most difficult times are often in the following spring when the food supplies begin to run out. When the animals die in the winter, they are frozen in cold temperatures. The meat can be eaten later.

Dzuds tend to be localized events that affect some people seriously and don’t affect others. Cows are often the first to go followed by horses, sheep, camels and goats. One herder said, “The dzud—it happens sometimes. It’s survival. It’s our karma.”

Gobi Dust Storms

The Gobi region of Mongolia and China, northern China, including Beijing, and western China are struck with fierce sand storms and dust storms in late winter and early spring. The winds generally blow from west to east and kick up tens of millions of tons of top soil each day. The storms are produced by atmospheric low pressure cells that develop over Mongolia and create windy conditions in the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. The storms are worse when the climate is hot and dry. In 2003, the storms were less severe than usual. This was attributed mainly to more rain in the Gobi and the failure of atmospheric low pressure cells to develop over Mongolia.

Springtime weather in Asia produces intense wind storm events that can pass over the Gobi Desert along the northern China and Mongolia border and other parts of desert China. These winds are capable of generating huge yellow clouds of suspended dust which based on the direction of the prevailing wind can be sent out to sea. Advances in satellite imagery allow the tracking and documentation of these huge Asian aerosol clouds. [Source: lakepowell.net/asiandust]

The yellow dust kicked up these storms refers not so much to the color of the dust while it is in the air but more to the film of dust left on cars, windows and other surfaces by the winds. The air and skies are usually a kind of brownish gray. Sometimes the sand mixes with snow and causes yellow snow.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Library of Congress, CIA World Factbook, Encyclopedia.com, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, U.S. government Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated June 2026