Even the oldest people around here cannot remember a winter so cold. It snowed in Baghdad for the first time in 83 years, according to the records. One of my contacts told me that it got down to -13 c in Al Qaim. The picture above is from Rawah, near the Euphrates. It never snows in Rawah … but it did, and some even stuck to the ground for a short while.
I am happy with this weather. It gets fairly warm in the afternoon. It could be a bit warmer, but not too much. As running weather, it is nearly perfect and our cans have heaters. I pity some of the poor Iraqis, who are unaccustomed to this kind of cold and whose houses are designed to withstand only heat. I remember my freezing time in Mudaysis.
Maybe this cold winter will mean a cooler than normal summer. I am not particularly excited about experiencing a colder winter, even if the icy blasts impress and chagrin the locals. For me, this doesn’t seem very cold. Our lows have been around 29 f degrees and it gets around 53 during the sunny times in the afternoons. If you wear dark clothes, the sunlight feels like liquid warmth on your back & the sensation of radiant heat is very pleasant in the cold, dry air. I would be content if this summer was the coldest in memory. I am not counting on such luck, but I would appreciate even a modest reduction. Of course, during the summer the highs and lows will be about the same as those I mentioned, only this time they will be in Celsius.