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Scot Jackson / National Science Foundation
It's busy at the South Pole in December and especially this year, the centennial of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's trek to the South Pole. Ceremonies included this one on Dec. 14 where Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg presented a Norwegian flag to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
It's being called a Christmas miracle: the South Pole, where temperatures this time of year (the southern hemisphere's summer) tend to be around minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, set a record high on Christmas Day with a whopping 9.9F -- that's right, 9.9, not 99.
On top of that, it also snowed on Christmas Day. What's odd about that? The pole actually gets little in the way of snowflakes -- it's one of the driest places on Earth with just .20 inches a year -- and most of the "snow" there is actually ice from over the years, some of which scatters with the winds.
"We like to call this our little Christmas miracle that we ended up getting snow and getting a record high for the books," Phillip Marzette, senior meteorologist at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, told The Antarctic Sun, a newspaper at the main U.S. base of McMurdo.
The Antarctic Sun
This South Pole Station announced the record warmth on its inhouse video system.
And no, the record heat is not a case of global warming (though some coastal areas of Antarctica are seeing rapid glacial melt tied to rising sea temperatures).
Winds came in from an unusual direction on Christmas Day, Marzette said, bringing with them relative warmth that started to raise temperatures rapidly at 6 a.m.
The warmth was only around for the day, and within a few days it was back to normal: minus 15F or so.
So what was the previous South Pole high? 7.5 F, set on Dec. 27, 1978. As for a record South Pole low (data goes back to 1957), that was minus 117F on June 23, 1982.
Some other fun facts:
- Warmest temperature recorded anywhere on the continent: 59F at a research base in the McMurdo Dry Valleys on Jan. 5, 1974.
- Coldest temperature (not just on Antarctica but worldwide): minus 128.6F at Russia's Vostok Station on July 21, 1983.
Leave a Comment:
If you're at the South Pole, how do winds come from the South and why would they be warmer than winds from the North....?
'Winds came in from an unusual direction on Christmas Day, Marzette said, bringing with them relative warmth that started to raise temperatures rapidly at 6 a.m.'
Care to say where you saw that in the article?
It is summer in the southern hemisphere and that includes the South Pole.
So, what you are saying is they had a "Summer's Breeze" party. Isn't that like a feminine spray or something? Or am I just being a douche again?
The wind is coming out of the hole in your head !
In the northern reaches of the Greenland glacier [Thule AFB] we never experienced 'snow' either. What we did get was high speed driven ice powder from off the glacier --- 'phases' we called these. We were a few hundred miles from the North Pole.
On one occasion they raffled off a tin of powdered chocolate which had been found in one of the Scott expedition's supply cairns somewhere in Antarctica and flown up to us.
I heard it was so warm, the penguins actually took off their tuxedos and skinny dipped on Christmas.
My Gosh!! That can't be an Iranian flag being held by those people in the picture? Are they planning to close Mc'Murdo sound along with the gulf of Hormuz?
No that is not the Iranian flag. It the Indian Flag.
more proof of global warming.
O don't be silly, chum. Global warming is just a theory by a bunch of scientists collaborating in a massive conspriacy. You know.....they get rich off releasing non-factual reports and findings.
However, this is a report on weather and not climate.
FOX Lies.
Yes, just like last winter was more proof of global cooling.
Direct from the article:
Just another case of someone not READING the entire article! Read people read! It says, "it is not a case of global warming"
If you are at the South Pole, how do the winds come in from the south?
If you are standing on the south pole and cut a fart then the wind would be coming from the south. It would also explain the "strange" direction it was coming from and why it raised the temperature.
I was in McMurdo in Dec., 1987. It warmed to 59 degrees, we were hoping it would rain, which is even a greater "miracle" than snow, sadly though, it didn't rain, just overcast, but at least the siding of the buildings we were working on were warm to the touch!!
I was there also that same year and that was the warmest temp on record up to that time. I remember walking from Medical to Bldg 155 with no parka and sleeves rolled up! Always nice to hear fromanother OAE!
117F is not a record LOW, it should be MINUS 117F
The article DOES state "minus"...try reading it again.
The coldest I ever experienced down there was -98. degrees Fahrenheit, and that did not include wind chill factor! If you went outside, you definitely wore every piece of extreme cold weather gear you had including face masks! And that was usually only long enough to climb into a preheated vehicle or a very short distance to another building! Still get chills just thinking about it. Glad I now live in the middle of the desert in Arizona!
The desert is the place to be!
How can winds come from the south at the South Pole?
They can't..only direction is NORTH if standing at south pole.
Why does everyone keep asking this? Didn't you read the article? It merely said the winds came from an unusual direction.
What most people are not aware of if that the location of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is considered the geographic South Pole. The true, or Magnetic South Pole is over 100+ miles away from there. Just a little trivia.
Ed, you got it reversed: The true South Pole is the geographic pole at 90 degrees south. The Magnetic South Pole is just that, the magnetic pole...and it moves, just like the Magnetic North Pole.
Tired, you are absolutely correct. Had just come off a long night when I typed that. Sorry for the typo. My sincere thanks for correcting me on that.
Wouldn't NO surface direction be North when standing at the South Pole? North, it seems, would be straight 'down' into the planet. Magnetic compasses go wild at the South Pole [there are several magnetic south poles] and gyro compasses have to be re'caged there.
While the facts indicate the climate is warming, as far as this news article goes--this isn't directly related to such warming.
The winds came from the south - because they only traveled a short distance.
Winds come from the south because of the Coriolos effect. The spinning earth acts like a washing machine agitator.
(Just kidding. I think the author misunderstood something that he was told. Obviously, there is no more south than the south pole. They eat only chittlins and whistle Dixie all day long there.)
I'm sorry......I've read the thing over and over, the last time with my finger following the words and do not find it to say any winds came from the south.
I swear, the double speak world we live in is starting to get to me.
Is that mudcrab chitlin or Chaurus chitlin?
I'll bet even the polar bears were staying indoors that day.
No kidding. I know what -8 feels like but I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to experience 128.6F. I wonder if that includes the windchill factor.
Polar Bears, you say? At the South Pole? Must have migrated there from the Arctic, since there weren't any Polar Bears at the South Pole, before.
Yes, I know, puddleduck, I was speaking metaphorically.
First, its not a 'miracle'. People are not at the pole enough to know what the temperature ranges have been, for say, the last 200 years. Next, any wind at the south pole comes from the north and that is "unusual"?
Actually, they have very good records of temperatures throughout that region.
Well Publi . . . yes the winds arrived at the south pole from the North, but which north? Maybe they normally blow in from the western hemisphere north and this time they blew in from the eastern hemisphere north.
Why are some dissecting this article as if it was released as a science article? This was a tong and cheek human interest story, some on this thread are obviously socially clueless dorkier nerds than I.
Oh you mean sometimes the planet does something it's doesn't always do? Maybe cools off (Ice Age), or warms up (warming trend)? Careful guys you're unraveling your own myth.
Look up the "fallacy of the excluded middle." Yes, sometimes the climate warms up or cools down on its own. And either of those events might be very bad for us. But there's also the possibility that we're causing the current warm-up, that nature would not be doing this on its own. Do you see why that might be cause at least to exercise some caution? Do you really think it's a good idea to be conducting a vast, uncontrolled experiment on the only planet we've got?
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
No, Early, because the "Fragile Earth" theory is utter bunk. Regardless of whatever happens, we'll do what animals have always done in the facing of changing climate: adapt, or die.
Well Publi . . . yes the winds arrived at the south pole from the North, but which north? Maybe they normally blow in from the western hemisphere north and that day they blew in from the eastern hemisphere north.
Why are we all dissecting this article as if it was released as a science article? This was a tong and cheek human interest story, some on this tread are obviously socially clueless dorkier nerds than I.
Glad to see they made the disclaimer, "And no, the record heat is not a case of global warming...". It's about time the media starts standing up to this perpetual lie.
Let's review the headlines of the 1970s - GLOBAL COOLING - will destroy the planet. Now the 1990s - GLOBAL WARMING - will destroy the planet. Now the 2000s - CLIMATE CHANGE - will destroy the planet.
Without calamities (real or conjured), the special interest groups don't get their money - the global warming cartel are capitalists pure and simple - however unethical - they are only after the money.
One last thought...the weather people are running about 45-50% accuracy in predicting the weather only 24 hours out - how could any of you clowns place your trust in them to accurately forecast the climate in a non-localized model 10 years out? Come on! Put your thinking caps on people.
You are a fool.
Yea global warming is a myth. But a man/god walking on water that's real, A man/god coming back from the dead that's real. A woman ascending into the heavens without any propulsion or space suit that's real. etc etc etc
No, Devil's Son, that's bunk too. Both global warming and religion are man made fantasies created and supported by people with a vested interest in using them to gain power and financial gain.
Right on Big D! Some common sense on here for once!
I'm not putting my trust in what they're saying; I'm witnessing it firsthand myself. My family is in organic farming, and we are spending ever more effort and money addressing climate change: ridge tilling in the spring to offset flooding, and drip irrigation in the summer to offset drought. Many of us believe that in the near future, we'll have to raise all vegetable crops in hoop tunnels, where we can control the temperature and moisture, to bring them to harvest. There is much concern about this topic amongst growers of all types. If you hope to eat in the future, you'd better wake up to what's going on.
As we have extremely limited data on precipitation and temperature levels over time, did it ever occur to you that maybe we're just experiencing natural variability in climate?
BTW, the polar ice caps are melting on Mars as well...we had better address that pretty soon...let's ban SUVs on Mars :-)
Extremely limited data? Exact temperature measurement is only recent, granted, but data from ice cores covers many thousands of years. Your first reaction to this is that I am a proponent of the global warming "theory." It is just that, a theory. Everyone has a scale that tips one way or the other, but you are not one to claim to have the most accurate scale...
And after the article itself states that this has nothing to do with global warming, just look at the comments! Must be a slow day for mexicans and muslims.
I am white and Catholic...
But I do appreciate the sarcasm :-)
Even though you completely missed the point of the sarcasm?
Winds came in from an unusual direction on Christmas Day, Marzette said, bringing with them relative warmth that started to raise temperatures rapidly at 6 a.m
the store dose NOT say the wind came from the south
Bet the penguins are digging it. "Surfs up! Cowabunga!" Plus...all the people up here crying about ski resorts being barren...heck, a balmy 9 degrees with snow at the South Pole! Head on down, there's plenty of virgin peaks to heli-ski down.
The earth is getting ready to tip over and put the poles back on the equator. Wait until Al Gore gets word of that. How is Florida going to deal with feet of snow?
?? And his wife is Tipper Gore? Too much!
What in the world are you talking about??? The world is NOT going to "tip over"! The ONLY way Florida is going to deal with "feet of snow" is if a VERY strong Northern front blows through, the North American continent drifts farther towards the Arctic, and if the Earth goes into another ice-age. That's it. Period.
What is the unusual direction from which the winds came? Don't all winds at the South Pole come from the north?
if the world was flat, all the Chinese would fall off.
That Miskatonic University expedition comes to mind.
GO PODS!!
North and South don't mean much there, so they would use the Azimuth the wind came from, e.g. 30 deg, 150 deg, etc.
All winds there come from the North. They may come from South America,the Atlantic, Africa, Indian Ocean, Austrailia/Pacfic but they all come from the North
And as Joe said they would indicate the latitude from which they blew...
Devil,
"All winds" do not come from the North in Antarctica. It depends on your location relative to the direction the wind is coming from. Example; if your standing on the shore and facing North toward South America, Australia, Africa, whatever, and the wind is hitting your back wouldn't the wind be coming from the South??
Outside of being summer, what time is it at the South Pole?
could a sun dile work?to tell what time it is at the south pole?
Maybe this normal weather and not global warming this time. Yes, it's possible the pollution, deforestation and overpopulation are a part of climate change. But global warming is questionable. Al Gore? What would his reason to promote this be? One thing I am convinced of is this earth will endure forever as it was created for that purpose. Although something will have to be done about how we are ruining the earth and its environment.
I agree that we all need to be concerned about pollution but this global warming thing
the liberals and demos continue to push and alarming people is just a money making
machine for all of them and their big union and rich friends and the poor hard working
tax payer is paying for with more regulations, higher food and supply prices, energy
prices etc.... people need to stand up and say enough! we want cheap energy and WE
can decide if we want to buy expensive toxic light bulbs and green cars with toxic batteries
that blow up and only get 35 miles to the gallon and if hit by a truck you'll be smashed
and if we want solar panels! let the consumer decided not dictator OBOMBO and his liberal
left wing fanatics! it's freedom not FREEDUMB! which is what Obombo's followers are!