Friday 22 July 2005
Bad Weather
The clear skies we've been having have now vanished and the wind has picked up to 30 knots, creating a very different view out of our windows. Above about 20 knots enough snow is picked up off the surface to start to restrict visibility, particularly when it is dark at the same time. Once it reaches 30 or 40 knots you can barely see a few feet in front of you.
I've tried in the past to describe what it's like during a winter storm but it's really hard to get across. The limited view through you goggles, reduced visibility, soft footing, noise and force of the wind on your body combine to make it a rather claustrophobic experience. Here's a short piece of video that I took last year which at least shows you the sight and sound - you'll have to imagine the rest for yourself.
It shows Ed our field assistant going for a walk under the Laws platform during 35 knot winds.
Click the image to watch the video (16MB MPG file)
The current weather is a pretty typical 'blow' down here which comes along every few weeks. The worst it's been since I was here was around 60-70 knots (we don't know exactly because the wind monitor broke!). You might not believe it but actually for Antarctica that's not particularly extreme - the US McMurdo station recorded a wind speed of 135 knots a few months ago!
Update
It's now picked up to 40 knots and I've just come in from digging the melt tank. Because of all the blowing snow you get a lot of static build up which tends to discharge through the metal shovels and give you a shock. Today was particularly bad for some reason and if I held my glove next to the shovel I could see sparks jumping across every second or so!
Posted by simon at 5:02 PM | Feedback (7)