I thought about titling this entry, "The Storm," but to have done so would have implied that the storm about which I'm going to share is something strong and extraordinary. That is not the case. Here at McMurdo there are three levels of weather. Condition 3 is "normal" and Condition 1 is the worst. However, the limits on what is defined as "normal" are extraordinarily generous! The following document defines the designation of the three conditions:
As you can see, it requires a LOT of bad weather in order for it to be even Condition 2 here! The weather has reached Condition 2 severity out at the LDB site a few times in the past 72 hours, but for the most part it's still been Condition 1. Therefore, I do not feel justified in calling it, "The Storm."
Around noon on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, a low pressure concentration to the north of Ross Island began bringing in some strong weather. Our LDB weatherman had been predicting strong winds and some snow for several days, and sure enough, it arrived right on time. The weatherman also predicted that the region of low pressure would stick around for a few days, sustaining the bad weather. Yet again he was correct: the storm is still here and quite strong!
The buildings at LDB are well insulated from the cold, but are not well insulated against wind! The galley, for example, had several snow drifts that had come in from spaces in the tent where it is tied down to the ground. And when strong winds come, we can feel the temperature drop inside the high-bay buildings! Further, sometime Wednesday night, the heat went out in the big high-bay that I work in, so when we arrived on Thursday morning it was only 40F! I spent practically all day with extra layers, hats, and gloves on!
Now for the story pictorial: The approach of "a storm." Each of the following pictures is of roughly the same view. The 1st photo is taken from the raised platform visible in the 2nd and 3rd. Any "blurriness" in these photos is actually just snow being carried by the wind!
 |
| December 1, 2010 at 1:50pm Wind condition when I took the photo: low to none |
 |
| December 1, 2010 at 2:05pm Wind: sustained low winds |
 |
| December 4, 2010 at 1:15pm Wind: 20-25 knots, with gusts even greater |
This kind of storm is common for McMurdo and is called a Herbie. In the first photo you can make out White Island (on the left side of the photo) and barely make out Black Island (on the right side of the photo.) The region between these two islands is called Herbie Alley, because the winds often come right out of that direction and bring strong weather to Ross Island! It is often said that once Black and White Islands become obscured, it is only a matter of minutes before the weather hits McMurdo Station. True enough!
The winds in the past few days have been absolutely astounding! I think it's a blast, because it's very rare that I've ever experienced such great, sustained winds! At times, it's challenging just to walk outside between buildings at LDB. Here's a short clip. I was trying to go outside while taking video, but I never even made it out the door! The door almost smacked into my camera!
Haha! :-)
Thanks for reading my blog!
Brett
2010-12-04 5:08pm (NZDT)
No comments:
Post a Comment