I have a friend that has traveled in the steppe a bit and lived in a yurt for a while. Also, there is a guy over here who worked in Central Asia in diplomatic service and brought back a genuine yurt. Now it stands in his garden as a summerhouse sort of.

From what I've heard, the traditional yurt works absolutely great in a dry climate. The insulation is excellent, so it's cool in summer and warm even in the coldest winter. There is a problem, though - it's optimized for the steppe where there is very little rainfall. Moisture and rain tend to degrade the materials (felt and wood) rapidly. In a temperate climate with moderate rainfall you can't expect a yurt to last very long if you just build it on the ground the way it's done in the steppe. You'd better construct it on an elevated platform (wood is okay) so that it keeps away the ground moisture and you need to find an effective way to divert the rain (some sort of drain is necessary).

Also, the process of setting up a yurt is fairly straight forward once you get the hang of it but it's tricky if you've never done it before. The frame in a traditional yurt is pretty complex and unless done just right, it won't be as strong as it ought to be.