The Issyk-Kul lake in northern Kyrgyzstan froze over due to extreme cold temperatures on Jan. 14.
Issyk-Kul means “warm lake“ in Kyrgyz. The name was given because the water never freezes due to the lake’s depth and natural warmth of water.
Local Resident, Taalay Orozakunov, told Reuters that he and his neighbours had never in their lifetimes seen the lake freeze.
“The ice goes about 150 metres (492ft) from shore to the centre of the lake. There were huge ice-boulders but they have all broken up. In some places the ice was 1.5 metres (5ft) thick. We, the locals. have never seen anything like it. It’s new for us.”
The lake froze over during extreme cold weatherin northern Kyrgyzstan, with the temperature at -30C (-22F) on Jan. 14.
Issyk-Kul is the seventh-deepest lake in the world, the tenth-largest by volume and the second-largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea.
