Tag: Cold

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General

The Winter Journey: Part XII

Frightfully Hard Pulling

When we left the men of the Crozier party yesterday they were in slightly better spirits as the temperature rose to a relatively balmy -50°F (-45.6°C). However, their arduous efforts were rewarded with a meager 1.66 miles of progress after several hours of pulling their sledges through dense fog. When the men turned out on the morning of July 8th, 1911, not much had changed:

Position: Camp 10

Time: 10:30

Temperature: -51.8°F (-46.6°C)

Wind Direction: SW

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -67°F (-55°C)

Sky Condition: Partly cloudy w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -59.3°F (-50.7°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The journals of the men were fairly sparse with regard to the details of the men’s activities on July 8th, but all accounts mention the difficulty of navigating through the fog and finally getting on to some better pulling surfaces. Cherry-Garrard summarizes the changing snow surface:

On 8 July we found the first sign that we might be coming to an end of this soft, powdered, arrowrooty snow. It was frightfully hard pulling; but every now and then our finnesko pierced a thin crust before they sank right in.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 243

After another day of grinding relay work the men had a little bit more to show for their efforts, making 2.25 miles of progress towards the rookery at Cape Crozier. At the end of the day’s march, Bowers reported the following weather conditions:

Position: Camp 11

Time: 01:00 (July 9th)

Miles Made Good: 2.25

Temperature: -36.2°F (-37.9°C)

Wind Direction: N

Wind Force (Beaufort): 2 (4-6 knots)

Wind Chill: -56.5°F (-49.2°C)

Sky Condition: Overcast w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Progress of the Crozier party after 12 days

One of the things I found interesting about the day was that the temperature had risen to -36°F (-37.8°C), an increase of 40°F over the span of 48 hours. What makes this even more impressive is that it happened in the midst of the polar night, in the complete absence of incoming solar radiation (insolation). The temperature rise can only be attributed to the combined process of warmer, moist air being transported poleward (advected) from the Ross Sea and the greenhouse effect. The combination of the moist air from the Ross Sea flowing over the ice shelf and the cold air damming in the Windless Bight likely contributed to the density of the fog as well.

Will the Crozier party’s luck improve during the ongoing heat wave? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t count on it; this crew are the ultimate gluttons for punishment. What will Antarctica have up its sleeve tomorrow?

BT

Categories
General

The Winter Journey: Part XI

The Vaguest Idea

When we left the men of the Crozier party yesterday they had just wrapped up their coldest day of the journey yet. Temperatures nearly dropped as low as -80°F (-62.2°C) and the crew only managed to make 1.5 miles of progress across bad pulling surfaces. At this point in the journey, Cherry-Garrard noted that routine camp work was taking upwards of nine hours per day due to the extreme cold (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 242). The artificial lines between night and day are blurred during the polar winter, and the men’s sense of routine based on time seemed to fade with it. The Crozier party did not get started until after noon on July 7th, 1911, and the first weather observation of the day indicated that conditions had not improved much:

Position: Camp 9

Time: 14:00

Temperature: -67.3°F (-55.2°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Light fog

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -74.8°F (-59.3°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

After stepping off in a light fog the men were reduced to relay work yet again, the cold still too intense for the sledge runners to glide along the snow surface. As the day dragged on the temperature began to rise a bit, and the fog began to thicken.

Bowers reading the meteorological screen at Cape Evans. Watercolor by Dr. Edward A. Wilson

By late evening, the men had to call a halt to the march as the fog had thickened to the point that they could no longer see where they were going. When the men pitched camp for the night they had made about 1.66 miles of progress.

Crozier party progress after 11 days

Cherry-Garrard documents just how tough the prolonged cold and sledging had been on the men’s bodies at this juncture:

Our hearts were doing very gallant work. Towards the end of the march they were getting beaten and were finding it difficult to pump the blood to our extremities. There were few days where Wilson and I did not get some part of our feet frostbitten. As we camped, I suspect our hearts were beating comparatively weakly and slowly.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 242

One of the more interesting and somewhat surreal things from the day’s march was to read what the men had to say about the great sense of relief they got when the temperature rose into the -50°F (-45.6°C) range, as opposed to -70°F (-56.7°C) and below. I guess it’s all relative, right? At the end of the day, here is where things stood with the weather:

Position: Camp 10

Time: 01:15 (June 8th)

Miles Made Good: 1.66

Temperature: -56.7°F (-49.3°C)

Wind Direction: N

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -72.6°F (-58.1°C)

Sky Condition: Mostly cloudy w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

Will conditions improve tomorrow for the Crozier party? Check back to find out!

BT

Categories
General

The Winter Journey: Part X

Dante Was Right

So thought Apsley Cherry-Garrard on the 6th of July, 1911 as the temperature in the Windless Bight dropped below -70°F (-56.7°C). As he wrote in The Worst Journey in the World:

The temperature that night was -75.8°F (-59.9°C), and I will not pretend that it did not convince me that Dante was right when he placed the circles of ice below the circles of fire.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 241

After their ninth frigid night on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, the men of the Crozier party were greeted by a cold even they could not fathom. Birdie Bowers took the following observation at 09:30

Position: Camp 8

Time: 09:30

Temperature: -69.4°F (-56.3°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Patchy, low-lying fog

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -74.8°F (-59.3°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The cold only intensified as the day went on. By noon, the temperature had fallen to -76.8°F (-60.4°C). Although their frostbites and equipment spoke to the severity of the cold, the men were a bit incredulous when taking the readings after swinging the thermometer. Bowers noted in the meteorological log that Dr. Wilson had double-checked his readings for the day and confirmed the observation. After three hours of relay work, the men only had a half mile of progress to show for their efforts. Bowers took another temperature reading at 17:51 and noted that the temperature had fallen to -77.5°F (-60.8°C). After another three hours of sledging, the men were able to tack on another mile of progress. Upon camping for the night, the men took their last observation of the day:

Position: Camp 9

Time: 21:00

Miles Made Good: 1.5

Temperature: -68°F (-55.6°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Patchy low-lying mist to W and NNW

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier party progress after 10 days

I cannot imagine the conditions these men faced on this day, and cannot feel nothing but inspired by their fortitude. They have been in temperatures below -50°F (-45.6°C) for eight days, their clothing is as hard as iron from all of the ice, any patch of exposed skin they may have will freeze within seconds, and their running on little sleep while dragging enormously heavy sledges across an impossible surface. How they managed, I do not know.

Reading the journals and stories of the men, I can’t help but be struck by the contrast in style. Dr. Wilson’s journal is very matter of fact, which is something I appreciate as a man of scientific bent. However, I thoroughly enjoy Cherry-Garrard’s The Worst Journey in the World, so much that it has become my favorite book. In addition to the exposition he provides, I can’t help but be fascinated with the human touch he brings to the expedition. His work certainly inspired the more romantic notions I developed about the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration and the Antarctic experience in general. I’ll end tonight’s post with his words about his experience and the two other men in the Crozier party:

More than once in my short life I have been struck by the value of the man who is blind to what appears to be a common-sense certainty; he achieves the impossible…We were quite intelligent people, and we must all have known that we were not going to see the penguins and that it was folly to go forward. And yet, with quiet perseverance, in perfect friendship, almost with gentleness those two men led on.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 241

If that is not #squadgoals material, then I don’t know what is! Will the men ever reach the penguins at Cape Crozier, or are the perils of the polar night too much? Find out more tomorrow!

BT

Categories
General

The Winter Journey: Part VII

A Beastly Cold Business

At this point in the journey the men of the Crozier party have been out from Cape Evans for six days, half of which have been at -50°F (-45.6°C) or colder. The last few days have been particularly trying, with temperatures dipping below -60°F (-51.1°C) in the overnight periods and the days filled with exhausting relay work that nets little in the way of forward progress. Not much had changed when the men emerged from their tent on the morning of July 3rd, 1911:

Position: Camp 6

Time: 11:00

Temperature: -51.5°F (-46.4°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Few clouds (cirrostratus)

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -64°F (-53.3°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

By this point, the specter of doubt was foremost in the minds of the men. The cold was intense and unrelenting, and simple tasks like lighting matches and getting into and out of sleeping bags required the utmost patience and effort. Cherry-Garrard felt that the party didn’t have the “ghost of a chance” of reaching the rookery at Cape Crozier (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 237).

The men were able to navigate by what little light was present on the horizon early in the day, and by moonlight into the late afternoon. The surface over the Windless Bight was very heavy again, and the men were only able to advance about 2.5 miles through grueling effort. At the end of the day’s march, Bowers observed the following conditions:

Position: Camp 7

Time: 22:00

Miles Made Good: 2.5

Temperature: -57.7°F (-49.8°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Partly Cloudy w/ cirrostratus

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
The Crozier party’s progress after 7 days

As far as today’s conditions in the Windless Bight, it is far, far warmer than it was this time 109 years ago. The most recent observation from the Windless Bight automatic weather station indicates the temperature is -7.6°F (-22°C). The conditions over the greater Ross Ice Shelf region have been fairly turbulent over the last few days, with high winds contributing to mixing of the boundary layer. However, satellite imagery shows skies are starting to clear and model data is predicting mostly clear skies and lighter winds, which will allow things to start cooling off again.

Day/Night Band (DNB) Image from the VIIRS instrument onboard the Suomi NPP satellite (via NASA Worldview). The greater Ross Island region is featured here.

Will anything break the cold snap the Crozier party is facing? Or will the deep freeze continue?

Categories
General

The Winter Journey: Part VI

An Experience to be Remembered

After covering 17 miles on the first two days of the journey, the men of the Crozier party have only managed to cover a total of 10 miles over the last 3 marches due to blistering cold and poor snow surfaces. Their fourth night on the ice shelf wasn’t any better, with temperatures below -60°F (-51.1°C) and a stiff easterly breeze stirring up some drift. The wind subsided by late morning, but the bitter cold remained on the morning of July 2nd, 1911:

Position: Camp 5

Time: 10:30

Temperature: -59.4°F (-50.8°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Partly cloudy w/cirrostratus

Overnight minimum temperature: -64.2°F

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

After struggling through their morning routine of wedging themselves into their gear and striking camp, the men faced another day of relay work in the sandy snow of the Windless Bight. On the bright side, the men were able to discard their candles in favor of the light of the moon to guide their way. Unfortunately for the men, the temperature fell throughout the day and the surface continued to impose a slow, heavy trudge. In the words of Cherry-Garrard:

It was a really terrible march, and parts of both my feet were frozen at lunch. After supper I pricked six or seven of the worst blisters, and the relief was considerable.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 236

Dr. Wilson also reported that light easterly airs would freeze exposed skin almost instantly, and that the men had to make extensive use of their nose nips (Diary of the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic 1910~1912).

Balaclava helmet won by Apsley Cherry-Garrard during the Terra Nova Expedition. Those metal snaps had to be hell in those temperatures. Photo from my visit to the Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibit in Charlotte (Feb. 2020).

Even though the sledging on this day was brutal, there were still a few moments of wonder as the men were captivated by the beautiful auroral activity to the east:

For there was one halt when we just lay on our backs and gazed up into the sky, where, so the others said, there was blazing the most beautiful aurora they had ever seen. I did not see it, being so near-sighted and unable to wear spectacles owing to the cold.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 237

I’m convinced that Cherry-Garrard was the Charlie Brown of this expedition…he really did have the worst luck. However, I think there is something to be said about the interesting juxtapositions that Antarctica creates. I always found it fascinating that a place of such harsh, unforgiving conditions could also possess such an ethereal beauty.

As for the men of the Crozier party, their arduous efforts only gained them another 2 miles of progress for the day. On camping for the evening, the weather conditions were as follows:

Position: Camp 6

Time: 21:15

Miles Made Good: 2

Temperature: -64°F (-53.3°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Partly cloudy w/cirrostratus

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

It almost seems pointless to ask this question now, but will the luck of the Crozier party ever improve? Check in tomorrow!

BT