Tashkent in winter today is nothing like it was 20–30 years ago or earlier. Winter weather now is closer to autumn or spring.
From my childhood — before school and during my school years in the 1960s–1970s — I remember above all cold winters with deep snow that stayed on the ground for a long time. Winter coats and winter boots were just as essential then as summer dresses and sandals. We always kept a sled on the balcony. Almost all children had skis and ice skates their parents bought for them, and we could use them without going far from home. Now, as far as I can tell, they are no longer relevant in Tashkent.
In the winter of 1969, for example, temperatures in the capital dropped to minus 20–24 °C. And the snow was so deep that even adults sank into it up to their knees, while children sank in up to their waists. Now this is something one can only dream about.
Of course, winter in Tashkent varies: some years are warm, with temperatures reaching up to +20 °C, others are very cold, with nighttime frosts down to –25 °C (the average winter daytime temperature in the capital is +6 °C, dropping to +2 °C in the evening). But snow has become rare — winter in the capital now usually means slush, mud and puddles (sometimes accompanied by snow).
In recent years, due to global warming, the number of warm winters has increased, and snowfall has decreased.
And now Tashkent residents do not always celebrate New Year’s Eve with snow. According to statistical data, over the last 50 years precipitation on December 31 and January 1 has occurred on average once every 3–5 years, and it is usually rain. Some years, snow comes at the end of December and stays until early January. However, in recent times New Year’s holidays in Tashkent have been dry.
On this page you can also enjoy photographs of real winter — the way it once was in Tashkent in the early and mid-20th century, in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. There is also a photo of a Tashkent tram in the winter of 2012.
Some say it only seems that the grass was greener and the snow was deeper in the past. I cannot say about the grass, but there really was more snow in Tashkent during my childhood, and winter then was real winter.
Also read:
- Tashkent and Uzbekistan in winter in two photographs by Max Penson
- New Year in Tashkent and Uzbekistan in the past: what it looked like
What memories do you have of winter in Tashkent? Share them in the comments.