Comments on: Help Help We’re Freezing Here!

By: elle

elle — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:00:36 +0000

Weather for South Pole Station
The date is 03-03-2009 at 2:59 AM

Temperature
-50.9 C -59.6 F
Windchill
-69.3 C -92.7 F
Wind
10.6 kts Grid 90
Barometer
676.3 mb (10768 ft)

UTC 03-02-2009 at 13:59 Z

It’s starting to feel cold!!!!

Take care.

By: elle

elle — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:35:52 +0000

Weather for South Pole Station
The date is 02-09-2009 at 2:23 AM

Temperature
-41.3 C -42.3 F
Windchill
-54.6 C -66.3 F
Wind
7.3 kts Grid 93
Barometer
683.7 mb (10489 ft)

UTC 02-08-2009 at 13:23 Z

Manageable, just barely and in increments. Old man winter cometh, escorted by the lady luna: I’m very excited for stars!

This is the last week of flights to the South Pole, as the magic number is -54 F for Hercs to fly. Baslers and Otters go colder, but it then takes 4-5 hours versus 3 on the Herc. 44 of us say goodbye to the outside world until November, or when it warms up to -54 F!

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:38:09 +0000

Hey, it has finally “warmed up enough to snow!”

We went into the gym and it was zero and windy. We came out of the gym (a pretty short while later) and it was five, less windy, and we were having a nice snowfall.

By: Cal Harth

Cal Harth — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:43:24 +0000

Hypothermia is a dangerous condition. While I was an undergrad the navy department funded a bunch of projects relating to it through the med school at my college in Duluth MN.
A “volunteer” could earn $300 for getting a little drunk and sitting in a bathtub full of ice water for a few hours. The rectal probe indicated when the subject’s core temperature had dropped to an interesting low temp. They all had to be helped to get back home.
I took a pass on the opportunity to make some quick cash. The aftermath of hypothermia can stick with a person for days.

By: D. C. Sessions

D. C. Sessions — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:03:57 +0000

I’ve also discovered that when my body temperature starts to drop, I feel acute nausea. That’s a useful warning signal, I think, because otherwise it sneaks up on you.

I’ve never heard of that one before. What core temp triggers it? (Although I note that it didn’t save you from some pretty severe peripheral circulation shutdown, which could have progressed to frostbite a bit too easily for my taste.)

Of course, I don’t really suppose that the first thing you did when you went inside was go searching for the rectal thermometer. We can’t all be obsessed over cold injuries; perhaps it’s better this way.

By: PZ Myers

PZ Myers — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Yeah, we just warmed up to -7°F, so I was able to go outside and clear the driveway before my wife gets home. Plowing out 2 feet of snow in that much cold with 20mph winds is not pleasant. I had to stop when I noticed I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. And then I noticed I couldn’t feel my feet either.

I’ve also discovered that when my body temperature starts to drop, I feel acute nausea. That’s a useful warning signal, I think, because otherwise it sneaks up on you.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:24:21 +0000

The longer I live in Southern California, the less likely it gets I’d be able to survive in the upper middle part of the US (let alone Canada). Current temperature: 72F.

It’s cooler than it is in Sydney, but at least it’s summer there.

By: D. C. Sessions

D. C. Sessions — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:15:31 +0000

And summers are quite nice. People come here for the summer. All two weeks of it.

Which leaves the mystery of where they go in the gaps between leaving you at the end of summer and when they show up here in November, and then again after leaving here in April and before showing up on your doorstep.

The migratory habits of the American Snowbird. There must be a research possibility there.

By: Margaret Morgan

Margaret Morgan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:14:16 +0000

Meanwhile, here in Sydney, it’s going to get up to 38C, and tomorrow over 40C. And no, this is not gloating. Not when it kills half your garden.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:51:29 +0000

OK, negative 8. I can go out now. Big plans for the evening.