wild and windy weather

Laura is due to come out of the South Pole today. This will be a more beautiful sight than the gorgeous pictures I'm posting on this entry! She's been in Antarctica since the beginning of October 2006 and is anxious to finish out her contract. The last time I saw her was in February, so I am hoping she hops off a LC-130 around 15:30 this afternoon!

The weather at the South Pole has been very poor for flights the last few days and I hope that her plane takes off from McMurdo this morning! The weather report we get in Air Services labels the odds for weather at the South Pole as "marginal." On a scale of "below minimums" in red to "above minimums" in green, it falls in the cautioned yellow category.

Speaking of weather, the McMurdo weather has deteriorated quickly. The air temperature has been -20F which can be cold, but tolerable. However, add in the wind, and we are at a brutal -55F which will keep even the most hearty outdoor workers inside for awhile. I picked up a piece of cardboard on my way back to work from lunch, and I nearly turned myself into a kite.

The crazy weather afforded us some beautiful semi-cloudy sunset skies. Kaska and I caught up on all our work this evening early and gave ourselves a short trip to snap some unobstructed photos of the sun. It was so cold we could barely keep the windows open in the van we drove. The last photo is against Black Island. This island (30 miles away) is located in the best place for our satellite dish. It is pointed at 2-3 degrees, skimming across the earth's surface to a satellite that hovers over the equator and gives us 24 hour communication with the outside world.