A cloak of ice is covering Issyk-Kul, the “never-freezing” saline lake in northern Kyrgyzstan. Read to know more about the shocking phenomenon.
All about the never freezing Issyk-Kul
Issyk-Kul is the second-largest saltwater lake and the seventh-deepest lake in the world. Moreover, in terms of volume, it is the tenth largest in the world. The name in Kyrgyz translates to “warm lake”. This is due to its inherent warmth and depth, the lake never freezes. However, when the temperature in the northern regions of Kyrgystan dropped to -30 degrees Celsius this weekend, the lake froze.
As per residents who spoke to reporters from Reuters they never witnessed the lake freezing. “On January 14 the lake froze. The ice goes about 150 meters (492ft) from shore to the center of the lake. There were huge ice-boulders but they have all broken up. In some places, the ice was 1.5 meters (5ft) thick,” stated Taalay Orozakunov, a resident.
More on the extreme cold in Kyrgyzstan
As per Kyrgyzhydromet, the Kyrgyz weather agency, Unstable weather is expected in the coming days. Severe snowfall is expected throughout the nation. Certain regions affected by the western wind will experience a rise in wind speed. Additionally, energy experts in the nation are warning people of the possibility of outages due to the recent abnormal weather.
“Due to a sharp increase in electricity consumption, there is a load on power grids and equipment, especially during peak hours. In this regard, to save equipment from overheating and prevent its failure, short-term failures in the supply of electricity are possible,” stated a JSC National Electric Networks of Kyrgyzstan (NESK) report. Experts believe the frost may last until the end of the month.