Friday, September 29, 2017

A South Pole Sunrise - the only one of the year!

A South Pole sunrise September 21st, 2017 time 0453.

The Dark Science Labs.




There is only one sunrise per year here so I had a fine sunrise walk.


Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station survives another long dark winter.

Sastrugi - parallel wavelike ridges caused by winds on the surface of hard snow, especially in polar regions.



After winter...

...before winter when I arrived in February. Lots of snow drift during the winter. It doesn't snow here but blows in from hundreds of miles away. The polar plateau is flat so the snow accumulates at the first resistance - the station. 

A nice but chilly walk this morning for sunrise. Today the temperature is cooler at -97 F with a windchill of -142 F. The pressure was down to sending the physiological altitude up.

The view of the ceremonial South Pole from the galley.

The ceremonial South Pole (right at the flags) from outside. The future is very bright. The sun will circle around the South Pole up to 23.5 degrees above the horizon then will circle down for the only sunset on March 22nd, 2018 for another 176 days of dark.

The South Pole went through many tremendous storms this winter and was plastered by snow. 
A huge polar storm hit us the day after sunrise. Today is September 30th and the first day in 9 days that we have seen the sun. The temperature was a pleasant -53 but the wind was ferocious. Any wind over 10 is very hazardous. 

We were in a whiteout for 4 days.

1 comment:

  1. Yikes. These pictures show a very different picture of the South Pole. I imagine that even though the temperature is still so frightfully cold, your spirit is responding to the sunshine. We are experiencing the dramatic weather with the low pressure sitting on Florida and just dumping water on us for weeks. I know you are planning for your last "hurrah" with the last frontier in the world and hope you get pictures that will last for your lifetime! Keep taking those selfies! Love always, andee

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