Amazing Place - Ust' Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan

Trees at Kirov Park

A few years ago,  my future plans for jobs were fairly clear cut.  An over-riding priority was to work in a warm country.  Then China happened. Well, more specifically, the rapid development of chinese industry and the demand for raw metals in particular has led to the sudden wealth of several countries which supply those materials.  That wealth has allowed the governments of previously less economocially developed states to invest in their education systems.
I ended up in one such programme for 3 months earlier this year in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  There the government has bought into the Cambridge International Examination board's IGCSE and AS/A-Level system so that all their students across the country will have access to a portable qualification accepted by universities world-wide.  Arriving in early March the temperatures started for me at -30C at night.  The last snowfall was on the 1st of June.
Returning home in mid- June I then was accepted into another nationwide educational project in Kazakhstan, namely the Nazarbayev Intellectual schools.  Cambridge are involved with this reform project too. Getting ready to go I visited the LD Mountain Centre in Newcastle (UK) where they were having a summer sale.  They had equiped folks before for Altai mountain expeditions so, being aware that my location for the next year was close (Ust' Kamenogorsk) I took advantage of the sale and bought a North Face "Vostok" 700g/litre goose down jacket and some Sorrel Caribou snow boots (rated to -40C).  I thought that that would be it for temperatures.  In August in Astana it was in the +30s C and then in Oskemen (a.k.a Ust' Kamenogorsk) it was similarly warm and then very wet.

Winter Sunset 

I was beginning to think that perhaps I had overdone the cold weather gear.  After all, the latitude was similar to Cherbourg in Normandy and the city altitude was only 300m above sea-level.  Stories of the weather over the previous winter from teacher who had been here a year suggested little snow and not too cold.
I was convinced by my research.  It would get cold and there would be snow.  The last year had to have been an anomaly.
I consulted with locals.  What bad weather had their parents and grandparents seen in the past?  The stories came back of cold and snow.  What was the average start of the first snow?  First week in November cmae the reply.
This year the first snow fell in October.  The 24th to be exact and hasn't melted since then.  The temperatures have dropped and the lowest was on the night of the 19/20th December at -44C.  We have taken delivery of a marvellous new set of atlases on Kazakhstan at school and Oskemen comes top of the lowest winter temperatures for a city for the whole of the country at -49C.  We're not that low yet, but, it is only December and the area has been cooled already.
The river water in the Irtysh is relatively hot and steam is contantly rising and blanketing the surroundings in fog which then freezes as a frosty coating on street signs, trees and the bridges. The latter have the appearance of a ship that has spent a trip in the high Arctic where the rigging is layered with ice.
So here I am, enjoying the chill air, the snowfall and the frozen landscape.  The opportunity for photos is huge.  Icicles on old buildings, log cabins, fir trees, misty rivers and silver birch.  For a place that will give the perfect Christmas card image, this could take some beating, even when you get the mosque in the shot!

Frosted Trees

Just out of curiosity,  I took a picture of snow building up on the balcony roof on 9th December and took the second one on 26th December and the third on the 7th January for comparison. The whole thing came off on 9th January as the wind picked up and temperatures rose.

The balcony cornice

Most of the extra snow accumulated on the 25th December.  

And then it was gone on January 8th.  Snow did return with temperatures also going back into the minus teens and twenties but by the 24th January the thermometers were reading over zero and up to +5C on 25th at lunchtime with some rain.  The compacted snow and ice now have a wet, slippery, smooth and very dangerous surface.  The sooner it melts completely, the better and safer it will be.

First Snows in Oskemen

Eventually it arrived on Monday 5th November.  After torrential rain all the previous day the temperature dropped and finally the precipitation went from liquid to solid.  Unfortunately, all the rain created large puddles and damp ground so most of the snow in the city was slushy.

Out in the suburb of кшт (Kuh-Shuh-Tuh), the snow was far more crunchy and the roads were still only visible as tyre tracks by the end of the working day.  The snow continued pretty much throughout the daylight hours.  It was almost a relief to have had the white covering appear.

I have discovered we are located in the South Siberia weather map area, which should give a clue as the kind of weather to come for the rest of the winter - more snow, ice and rapidly disappearing temperatures. 

As I left the Nazarbayev Intellectual School on Monday evening, the slush was hardening up and pavement and steps becoming treacherous.  The icy base layer to found the winter on had been laid.

And the temperatures plummeted further as the skies cleared.  On Friday morning (9th) it was -25C at 6am.  The wind picked up, and snow that was on the roof was been blowing off as a fine powdery glitter, finding its way into drifts.

On Sunday 11th November I had a walk along the River Irtysh.  A cold wind was still blowing from the east.
I took these images of the river port and the Kazakhstan Flag monument on the hill behind it.

The river docks along the upper reaches of the Irtysh must be in the running for ports furthest from, but connected to, the salty oceans by navigable rivers (in this case the Irtysh and the Ob connecting to the Arctic Ocean).

I also managed to catch the mosque on the road to кшт in a good light; such that the minarets were all reflecting off the main blue dome.

Guest Author

At last, a chance to meet some fans.
At a time yet to be confirmed, I have been approached and accepted to meet the aspiring writers and young readers at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Oskemen (Ust'-Kamenogorsk) in East Kazakhstan.  The meeting has been arranged by Mr. Zenon Kozyra (a Canadian librarian at the school).
If any of the students would like to bring copies of my books: the prize-winning "Any Means to an End - The Lost Diaries of Richard Buchanan" and  the follow-up "Protective Craft - The Lost Diaries of Richard Buchanan" in for signing I shall oblige.
For the local weather, please check the gadget at the base of this blog, things are starting to get chilly here in Oskemen.