Quiet Week

We have had a very quiet week as we were shutout for field work. The last time we were in the field was the abbreviated visit with the ground blizzard. We have been on the flight schedule for the twin otter for the past eight work days to visit either of two sites. The first five of those eight days we were primary, meaning all we needed good weather at either site, but no such luck. Twice we were on the helo schedule but were cancelled due to weather. All of the bad weather has been due to a large low pressure system that has been dominating the weather over much of the Ross Ice Shelf for the past week. In McMurdo, we had strong winds on Wednesday and Thursday. There was a bit of a reprieve on Friday and then we have had snow the last two days. There was about 3" of snow on the ground this morning and that is a significant snowfall for McMurdo, especially for late spring and early summer.

McMurdo Station during the snow storm last weekend. The snow was fairly light during the entire event with light winds.

Looking out onto the sea ice from McMurdo Station during the snow storm. The Chapel of the Snows is the white building in the distance.

Looking at Observation Hill the evening after the snow storm ended. 

Looking out onto the Ross Ice Shelf between the NSF Chalet and the Crary Science Lab the evening after the snow storm.

You might recall that I was supposed to be in West Antarctica by now. The original plans for the field season had us getting into the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) Camp by the end of this past week (yesterday). That schedule was put in doubt earlier this month when the camp staff was delayed two weeks due to weather and airplane mechanical problems. The storm that created problems on the Ross Ice Shelf this past week was even more significant for WAIS. The severity of the weather for the US Antarctic Program is guided by three conditions, with Condition 1 being the most severe. Condition 1 weather has sustained winds greater than 55 knots, visibility less than 100 feet, or wind chill greater than -100F. The visibility less than 100 feet is often times the criteria that triggers Condition 1 the most. The WAIS camp rules for Condition 1 is that all people are to remain in the main camp structures, which are not many. If they have Condition 1 "lockdown" then they setup ropes between buildings, flag routes to major destinations, and setup water jugs and temporary bathroom facilities in the Galley and Rec tents. We were notified on Friday that WAIS Camp had received a Condition 1 storm over several days this past week. The storm has subsided but it has set the camp even further back in setup and preparations for science. They will need to dig themselves out from this storm, continue the construction of the camp, re-set up the skiway so planes can land again, and make additional preparations for the start of science. The latest that we have been told is that they hope to get us there by Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving in the US Antarctic Program is typically celebrated on Saturday to provide for a two-day weekend (some camps/locations choose to celebrate it on the traditional Thursday). Thanksgiving at McMurdo Station will be on Saturday. The day is marked by a traditional Thanksgiving meal. They try to make this meal a little more special including requesting reservations for one of four different time slots during the day. I have heard that it is a pretty good meal and a fun day. In truly traditional Thanksgiving form, there is also a Turkey Trot 5K race that morning. Given the uncertainty for getting to WAIS Camp, we have signed up for a Thanksgiving reservation in McMurdo and I have registered for the turkey trot.

I have big plans for field work for the week ahead. It is very likely that I am being overly optimistic. With the weather delays from this past week, helo ops and fixed wing are slightly behind and that makes the chances of us getting flights even more slim. At a minimum we are on a 5-day work week this week (Thanksgiving) and our time available for field work might be even shorter if we transition to WAIS later in the week. The weather should be clearing later today and things look good over much of the Ross Ice Shelf for the next few days. My general opinion is that it is key to be prepared in case you get a good run of days to get into the field. That is my hope for the week.

Lastly, because we are 18-20 hours ahead of the United States, all of the weekly NFL games take place on Monday during the work day. The live TV that we get in McMurdo is from the American Forces Network, which includes a channel focused on sports. Some of the NFL games are live and some are on tape delay spread out over a few days. The result of this is that I have been paying little attention to the NFL. The good news is that it has helped by fantasy football as I am 3-1 while in Antarctica after starting the season 0-6. The Packers-Vikings game is one of the live games for tomorrow morning (10:00 AM local time) and the plan is to watch the game if we do not get out into the field.