Richard Engel, NBC News Middle East Bureau Chief, probably doesn't get too many people asking him about the weather in Iraq, at least not as an opener. But I did this morning and what he told me really shed some light as to the magnitude of weather variables that soldiers and civilians have to deal with. Depending on what season it is, the weather in Iraq is yet another force to be reckoned with on all fronts.

Iraq is a bit more than twice the size of Idaho and it is nearly landlocked and is mostly composed of broad, arid plains. Two easily flooded river valleys, the Tigris and the Euphrates, diagonally cross the country from northwest to southeast. Under the influence of monsoons, in the summer, Iraq has a constant northwesterly wind (shamal) while in winter, an equally strong southeasterly wind (sharqi) develops.

Richard and I did not get a chance to talk about the monsoon season as he had to jump back onto the Imus program, so I looked up some climate information and found that rainfall distribution and amounts are erratic. A year's worth of rain can fall in a short period of time on a small area often resulting in flash floods. This typically happens in the winter from December to March.

We didn't discuss the rain but we did chat about the dust and the heat. During the summer (from May to October), the temperature can easily reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade!

It is unimaginable how soldiers and civilians deal with that kind of oppressive heat. Dust storms usually occur in July and August in Iraq and often send hundreds of people to the hospital with respiratory problems, which happened in 2005.

Dust also causes restricted visibility as well as blowing sand and dust haze.

Just to complicate things further, winters lasting from December to March are damp and comparitively cold. Temperatures average 50 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the northern mountainous regions along Turkish and Iranian borders experience harsh cold winters with heavy snow that cause cause extensive flooding when they melt.

Clearly the erratic weather patterns are an addtional challenge in Iraq that all soldiers and civilians must face each season. From the oppressive heat and dangerous dust storms in the summer to harsh cold winters in the mountains, I am even more awestruck now at the bravery and resilience of the American soldiers, the media and the support staff as they combat Mother Nature, which can sometimes be the world's most violent force.