Category II as seen from the Crary Lab. The McMurdo operations center can be seen in the background.
Since we arrived the weather at McMurdo has been unseasonably warm. As I’m writing this the outside temperature is -10 C (14 F) with no wind, balmy for this far south! Normal daily max temperatures for this time of year are still below -20 C. Warm temperatures in Antarctica are usually associated with storms and wind, and despite the calm conditions right now that’s definitely been the case!
Flat Stanley heads out into the storm. There were some concerns about Flat Stanley's clothing selection for Antarctica, so Shelly helped him out by knitting him a scarf.
The weather at McMurdo Station is described as either Condition I, II, or III. Condition III is normal, with winds below 48 knots (still pretty brisk), visbility above 1/4 mile, and a wind chill above -75 C. Yesterday we had our first Condition II day, with blowing snow reducing visibility for a sustained period of time. We are still allowed to work under these conditions, but we aren’t allowed to leave the area for recreation. A section of road between McMurdo and the ice runway reached Condition I today, under those conditions you aren’t allowed to leave the building you’re in! Anyone driving on the road would have had to stop and wait it out until conditions improved.
Shelly passes the Piston Bully training with flying colors!
Shelly and I are slowly moving through the training and lab setup needed before we can start traveling on the ice and doing science. The wind has held up the cargo flights that will bring in the rest of our gear, but hopefully some of it will make it in tomorrow. In the meantime we got checked off to drive the Piston Bully, a tracked vehicle that will serve as our means of transport to and from the ice edge in the coming weeks. In the Arctic we’ve always relied on snowmobiles, which are faster and a little more maneuverable in broken ice. On the flatter and windier ice of McMurdo Sound the Piston Bully’s, with their heated cabs, are the preferred mode of travel. They are pretty fun to drive, but a little slow if you’re used to a snowmobile…
Hi Jeff and Shelly — so glad you made it to McMurdo safely and hope all your supplies arrive soon! I’m very much enjoying and appreciating your blog!
Shelly will remember this (it was before Jeff’s time in the Deming Ecosystem), but we used a vehicle similar to the “Piston Bully” during an overwintering icebreaker expedition we had in the Arctic (called CASES, for the international Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study) in 2003-2004. Our vehicle, called the Half Track, was used to create and maintain a small airstrip on the ice next to the ship, the Canadian research icebreaker called the Amundsen. The ship was completely frozen into surrounding sea ice (immobilized) from December 6, 2003, until May 6, 2004, when the ice finally began to break up and the ship could move in open water again. But, during the immobilization period, every six weeks small prop planes would land next to the ship for an exchange of crew and scientists and to bring fresh food (!) to the ship. We also used the Half Track to create and maintain snowmobile trails from the ship to distant sampling sites. We really appreciated the heated cabin of the Half Track on the coldest winter days, which for us that year dropped below –40°C! Your –15 and –10°C at McMurdo sounds awfully warm…
Thanks Jody! If anyone is interested in learning more about the CASES overwintering cruise great info and pictures can be found here.