If you want to have some linguistic fun, type "brutal Afghan winter" into whatever search engine you prefer. You will note that was the term of choice for almost all of the media about fifteen years ago. It's also a sure sign of the devolution of professional reporting in the United States.
Also, look up "Journo-list" to see how this informational sausage gets made.
[For those curious, the Afghani winter is virtually identical to that of Northeastern Ohio.]