KZBlog

Despite my attempts to be a serious blogger, I have noticed that some of my chattier “what is life like in Kazakhstan” posts actually get more attention than the news coverage. And I certainly get lots of emails with questions about what to bring to Kazakhstan, can you get ketchup here, what’s the food like.

So as spring starts to come, and we get ready for the Nauryz rainstorm and the April blizzard, I was thinking about how to deal with the weather in Astana and what you need to bring with you or buy here.

First of all, the fact of the matter is that it is very cold here in the winter and the winter is quite long. The average yearly temperature is 1.8C according to the World Meteorological Organization. And the summers are quite hot, reaching 25-30C. So that gives you an idea of how long and cold the winter is to bring down the average like that. You will need a warm coat, gloves, a warm hat, a scarf and long underwear. I recommend buying the coat elsewhere because here fur coats are expensive and Goretex or other synthetic winter coats are even more expensive. Also buy serious winter boots or get a nice pair of fur-lined boots here. It does make a difference.

It’s also worth noting that many apartments have no thermostat or heat controls. The heat just blasts out of the radiators. So many people end up opening windows to keep the interior temperature down. This can lead to a never-ending cycle of opening the window, getting cold, closing the window, getting hot, opening the window… Another issue is that the constant heat makes the air quite dry (and of course we’re nowhere near the ocean), so I have heard of some expats getting a humidifier.

Also the Kazakhstani tolerance for heat is much higher than the American tolerance, in my experience, so if you go over to someone’s house, dress in layers so you can survive the street and then strip down when you get to your destination. Personally I find myself sweating away in the winter in stores and taxis because they keep the heat so high and I’m so bundled up.

Now the flip side of the long cold winter is the short, but hot summer. It really can get up to 30C in July, especially in the sun. I actually worked in an office once where all the men would close themselves in their offices and take off their shirts to work! Investing in T-shirts and lightweight work shirts is also worth it. Particularly as it’s not very socially acceptable to go around in shorts. All that stuff can be bought here, of course.

Interestingly it doesn’t rain or snow very much here, so you don’t have to worry too much about precipitation. It does get quite windy out here on the flat steppes with nothing to break the wind between the Ural mountains and the Chinese border, but that’s mainly an issue of keeping warm against the wind. And bringing a heavy rock to hold things down if you go sit in the park.