Weather comes to McMurdo

I had read it, I had heard it, but I hadn't seen it... Until today. They say that Antarctica is the windiest place on earth. Also the driest. With less than two inches of precipitation a year on average, Antarctica is technically a desert; the driest landmass on earth. It receives less precipitation than the Sahara Desert. Anyways, today I witnessed a rarity. Two events occurred within about 6 hours, one being extremely common and the other quite rare (especially for this time of year). The day started off normal enough, with clear skies and temps in the 15-20F below region (see first picture). Saying it's windy in Antarctica is like saying it's sunny in the Sahara desert. Understatement of the year! In McMurdo you are surrounded by very tall mountains (the Royal Society Mountains), and if the weather is coming from the other side of those mountains it will crest those mountains and be on top of you quicker than you can say "We need to get inside because I am FREEZING". Being a climber I have dealt with this scenario in the Sierras, among other places, but never to this extent.

With that being said, I would implore you to now look at the second picture. This was taken less then 40 minutes after the first shot. If you look carefully you will notice that they were taken from the exact same position, as we were trying to finish a project (more on that project later) before the supposed 'weather' moved in. Which brings me to my second point. 'Weather' in Antarctica is the second understatement of the year. If the say there is possible 'weather' moving in (which they do quite frequently), it means batten down the hatches. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just get inside! Anything and everything else takes too long. I have now learned that the wind gusts of this particular 'weather' reached 85 mph, which, according to my research, put me in the middle of what was the equivalent of a category one hurricane.

To people that have spent any time here, this wasn't a very big deal. Wind gusts routinely reach 100+ mph here. Maybe that's why my boss said we stay until the job is done. What a day to be working outside! Nothing like some fresh air, right? Unless it is going into your nose at 85 mph...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the other little problem with wind. It seems to have quite an effect on the temperature outside. When we finally did finish the project (which took 4 hours to do something it would take 15-20 min in L.A.) and went in for lunch, the weather report said -35F ambient temp with wind chill peaking at -58F. Let me remind you that at the start of the project it was -15F ambient, -20F with wind chill. Basically, the temp dropped 38 degrees in about an hour. The best part you ask? Since it did not reach -100F and visability did not drop below 25 feet (it hovered around 40 feet), this was not category one (in which case we all stay put in whatever building you might be in), but rather category two, and I got to go back to work after lunch. Thankfully there was work to be done in the shop, but just getting there was on ordeal in itself. When the shop is about 500 feet away and you can only see 40 feet in front of you, plus an 85 mph wind pelting anything that weighs less than 2-3 pounds into your body, including rocks, dirt and debris, and ice, it makes for a very interesting walk to say the least.

All in all, life could be worse, and it feels good to have gotten my first major storm under my belt. Tonight is Kiwi night, so, if it is possible (probably not) I am going over to Scott Base, which is run by the Kiwis (New Zealanders), for a drink.

Oh yeah. The second thing that happened today was the semi-rare part. It snowed! Usually this doesn't happen because when the weather is this cold the low pressure pushes clouds with snow farther north and leaves us with lenticular clouds that are associated with high winds. Not the case today! Almost 4 inches of snow fell in a 24 hour period which made for a very beautiful and serene setting. More on the snow later as well (next blog) as I have to get back to work...

I hope all is well with everyone back home and more updates soon!