And by slight breeze, I mean 50 mph sustained winds with gusts around 70 mph.
The day started off pretty normal - clear skies, a slight breeze. Kelly and Steen went on a helicopter flight, while Jen, Derek, and I went out to weigh a few pups and tag some adults (Sascha has been in town for 3 days quarantined with the flu). Well, about 10:30 or so, the wind started to pick up, but it still wasn't too bad - probably around 20 mph. We went back to camp to eat lunch and because Derek, Kelly, and Jen were supposed to go on a flight this afternoon, but Kelly called from town and said that the flight was cancelled and a big storm was coming in. We looked out the window to the south and there was a big wall of blowing snow. The winds had really started to pick up, but we went back out in the field to finish up a few odds and ends (and there was a penguin close to camp, but we got there too late). The ride to Turk's Head was pretty bad and visibility had gotten much worse and winds were around 40 mph. After all that driving, it turns out there were no animals to tag, so we decided to go to another spot. On the ride back, we decided that we should head back to camp.
Back at camp, it took 3 of us to put the cover on one snowmobile. The wind would push us around so that you would have to run in order to not fall down. And if you were on the ice, you would just slide along until you fell down or ran into something. Me - I ran into the pisten bully with my shin. And my sunglasses were blown away by a big gust. I felt them go, turned around, and they were nowhere to be seen. We left for town about 5 minutes later, and Jen joked about them blowing across the road in front of us. Not 10 seconds later, I see them in the road 200 yards from where I lost them, 90 degrees from the direction of the wind. I took my foot off the gas and tried to hit the brakes, so as not to run over them, but there are no brakes in a pisten bully. Luckily, they don't go very far when you don't give them gas. So, my sunglasses are safely back on my head and we're safely in town. I've added a video of all the mayhem, but I don't think it will do it justice. As some reference, hurricane force winds are technically at 74 mph and I know we hit at least 72 mph today.
Monday, November 5, 2007
There was a slight breeze today
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5 comments:
WOW! And you're there in the "summer"! If the winds are that strong, how do your little trailers hold up?
How long does it take you to get back to town?
Did GMA (or one of the am shows) come to McMurdo this week?
Also, does the seal poo smell? I know it freezes, so does that keep the smell down? what about the stuff that gets on your clothes? and how do you get it off? (is your gear washable and wear can you wash anyway?)
One of the seal pups in your facebook pictures look like the hair around its eye is missing. Any thoughts?
You have some really GREAT pictures in there ( I love the penguins and the landscape scenes), but when I tried to print them at Walgreen's they didn't turn out so well, any suggestions?
Aunt Stacy and the Gang
P.S. I few updates: Rachel made the Southern District Choir. There are 12 STATES involved in it and only 200 children in the choir!
Also, Rachel and Harrison are in "Babes in Toy Land" at the Capital. Jonathan is the Grinch in that show, all the kids are playing basketball and Daniel is playing drums in a band (they've played at a few "gigs"). Alex has his permit, Daniel turns 16 next week.
Love ya! Keep warm and DON"T BLOW AWAY!!!See ya soon.
Ann Currie in McMurdo - I was late to work hoping that I'd see you...
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21487444/&fg=&from=00&vid=39ec2957-229a-425a-a56a-5d6649cf213d&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:Today_Ends%20of%20the%20Earth:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A
I finally listened to the video with sound and it sounds.... cold.
Wow, that's a lot of questions!
The huts hold up pretty well. Sometimes they rock a little, but they won't ever tip or slide across the ice.
On a snowmobile, it takes about 30 minutes to get to town driving about 30 mph. In the pisten bully, it takes about an hour.
The Today Show was here, but I'm hardly in town and didn't get to see all the commotion.
Yes, the seal poo smells. Bad sometimes, especially when it's fresh and you're down at their flippers tagging them. We melt snow for washing dishes and cleaning our clothes, but they don't get really clean until we go into town.
The pups are starting to molt and lose their lanugo (the softer hair - we call it puppy pajamas), so the spots around the eyes are where the new fur is coming in.
This is great info to know.
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