Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
Well, this is the fourth day we’ve been sitting in our office waiting for the weather to clear. It is just too windy to fly! At some point, I’ll post stories about my flights, but today’s weather reminded me of my first recreational hike, which was on Sunday, October 23rd. It was a fairly small hike, maybe 30 minutes up and less going back down, at a place called “Observational Hill” or just Ob Hill. We started off around 2:30 in the afternoon, and it was a beautiful day. Climbing up was harder than I thought- I wore the boots that I was issued (“Bunny Boots”) which are hard to walk in. But it was still a fun hike. Here I am hiking up the mountain, with Olga ahead of me.
You could see McMurdo station from the hill. Here I am with Mac, with McMurdo in the background. We are maybe half-way up the hill at this point. You can see my huge “Bunny Boots”
Most of the clothes I’m wearing were issued for me at the CDC (clothing distribution center) in New Zealand. We call the coat “Big Red”, and we all have nametags. Nametags are very important, since about 1000 people here have the same coat! The hat I actually bought at a garage sale in Michigan for 10 cents.
When we finally reached the top of Ob Hill there is a cross, called “Scott’s Cross”. Scott was a man who was the second explorer to reach the South Pole (missed being first by only a few weeks) but he died trying to come back. And so the rest of his crew put the cross up there. Here is a picture of us with the cross behind us. It was super windy at the top of Ob Hill. So windy we had to sit down and stay behind rocks so we didn’t get blown off!
We decided to hurry back down the hill because the weather was starting to get really bad. I spent a lot of time on my backside so I wouldn’t get blown over. It wasn’t quite windy enough to be completely scary, but it was definitely exciting. If you weren’t paying attention, you could have been blown-off! At one point, I tried to put my spare mittens more tightly in a pocket, and one blew away! It flew right off of the side! (Fortunately, I had a spare pair). Here is a picture of Mac, pretending to fall off the side of the hill. Good background of McMurdo again.
Walking down the mountain was so much fun, and you could see the wind rolling over the ice shelf. When we finally reached the bottom, I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz. You know in the very beginning, where everything is brown? And it is the start of the tornado with all the barns in the background with dust flying? Well, as you can see from the pictures, much of McMurdo is brown, and the buildings do look very barn-ish. The wind was blowing, but it was mostly dirt, not snow. It was very interesting. Here is a picture of the wind, but it doesn’t do it justice.
So weather forecasts in Antarctica are different than in the United States. Here, we only have 3 conditions. If we are in “condition 3” it means the weather is very nice. “Condition 2” is bad, and if we’d been hiking any where, you should probably check out with the fire department so they can keep track of people. And “condition 1” is super bad weather- you aren’t allowed out of the building if “condition 1” is called. So if I had been in my office, I’d have to stay there until the weather was better- even sleep in my office!
Every day before this hike had been “condition 3” (the good weather). But that evening, it was called “condition 2”! I was excited, because it was my first real storm. Actually, everywhere but the station was at condition 1! (So for example, the Ice Runway, where planes land, was at condition 1).
So this is what counts as each condition:
Condition 3: when wind speed is less than or equal to 48 knots, visibility is great than .25 miles AND wind-chill temperature is greater than -75 degree F
Condition 2: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 48 knots but less than or equal to 55 knots OR visibility is greater than 100 feet but less than or equal to .25 miles OR wind-chill temperature is greater than -100 F but less than or equal to -75 F
Condition 1: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 55 knots OR visibility is less than or equal to 100 feet OR wind-chill temperature is less than -100 F.
So, now image how easy you get off for a snow day! Our “snow day” corresponds to condition 1!
You could see McMurdo station from the hill. Here I am with Mac, with McMurdo in the background. We are maybe half-way up the hill at this point. You can see my huge “Bunny Boots”
Most of the clothes I’m wearing were issued for me at the CDC (clothing distribution center) in New Zealand. We call the coat “Big Red”, and we all have nametags. Nametags are very important, since about 1000 people here have the same coat! The hat I actually bought at a garage sale in Michigan for 10 cents.
When we finally reached the top of Ob Hill there is a cross, called “Scott’s Cross”. Scott was a man who was the second explorer to reach the South Pole (missed being first by only a few weeks) but he died trying to come back. And so the rest of his crew put the cross up there. Here is a picture of us with the cross behind us. It was super windy at the top of Ob Hill. So windy we had to sit down and stay behind rocks so we didn’t get blown off!
We decided to hurry back down the hill because the weather was starting to get really bad. I spent a lot of time on my backside so I wouldn’t get blown over. It wasn’t quite windy enough to be completely scary, but it was definitely exciting. If you weren’t paying attention, you could have been blown-off! At one point, I tried to put my spare mittens more tightly in a pocket, and one blew away! It flew right off of the side! (Fortunately, I had a spare pair). Here is a picture of Mac, pretending to fall off the side of the hill. Good background of McMurdo again.
Walking down the mountain was so much fun, and you could see the wind rolling over the ice shelf. When we finally reached the bottom, I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz. You know in the very beginning, where everything is brown? And it is the start of the tornado with all the barns in the background with dust flying? Well, as you can see from the pictures, much of McMurdo is brown, and the buildings do look very barn-ish. The wind was blowing, but it was mostly dirt, not snow. It was very interesting. Here is a picture of the wind, but it doesn’t do it justice.
So weather forecasts in Antarctica are different than in the United States. Here, we only have 3 conditions. If we are in “condition 3” it means the weather is very nice. “Condition 2” is bad, and if we’d been hiking any where, you should probably check out with the fire department so they can keep track of people. And “condition 1” is super bad weather- you aren’t allowed out of the building if “condition 1” is called. So if I had been in my office, I’d have to stay there until the weather was better- even sleep in my office!
Every day before this hike had been “condition 3” (the good weather). But that evening, it was called “condition 2”! I was excited, because it was my first real storm. Actually, everywhere but the station was at condition 1! (So for example, the Ice Runway, where planes land, was at condition 1).
So this is what counts as each condition:
Condition 3: when wind speed is less than or equal to 48 knots, visibility is great than .25 miles AND wind-chill temperature is greater than -75 degree F
Condition 2: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 48 knots but less than or equal to 55 knots OR visibility is greater than 100 feet but less than or equal to .25 miles OR wind-chill temperature is greater than -100 F but less than or equal to -75 F
Condition 1: When ANY of the following is true: wind speed is greater than 55 knots OR visibility is less than or equal to 100 feet OR wind-chill temperature is less than -100 F.
So, now image how easy you get off for a snow day! Our “snow day” corresponds to condition 1!
posted by Emily at 4:34 PM
2 Comments:
WOW! The pictures are great and I am so glad you are having a good time. They should have an "Elimidate" episode in Antarctica. I know that was random, but hopefully it made you laugh!
Bonjour de France,
Votre blog est magnifique, chaudement assis devant un ordinateur ;) . Quand je pense que ma femme vit aujourd'hui sa version de la " condition 1" c'est-à-dire 0° C et 3 cm de neige.
Personnellement je vous envie car vous vivez un de mes rêves, l'Antarctique... c'est là que je regrette de pas avoir assez travaillé à l'école...
Bon courage pour la suite...
Reverso translates
Your blog is magnificent, warmly sat in front of a computer;). When I think that my wife lives her version of the " condition 1 " that is 0 ° C and 3 cms of snow today.
Personally I envy you because you live one of my dreams, Antarctica... it is there that I regret of step having worked enough on the school...
Courag check
yann
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