"Dirty Snow"


 1-28-2020

Herbie came to visit Sunday. Both of our airports experienced weather condition 1 on Sunday. For condition 1 to exist you must have winds greater than 55 knots, or wind chill colder than -100 F or visibility less than 100 feet. I’m happy to report of the 3 we did not have -100 degrees! We did however have the other two. The most amazing part of it all is that we had very benign conditions in town. It’s a reminder to all of us here how quickly the weather can change and how arbitrary it can be where and when it hits.

Ross Sound Artifacts
At lunch today I had the pleasure of listening to an NSF (National Science Foundation) representative. In a former life he was one of our C-130 pilots. He was telling me that both Williams Field and Phoenix Field, our two airports, had to be moved last year because the snow had gotten “dirty”. Dirty snow attracts more heat and causes the runway surfaces to become unstable for use. Ah, the things you must deal with in Antarctica! I’m really happy that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to listen more and talk less (yes that’s my wife you hear laughing). It’s amazing what you can learn if you just listen now and then.

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