Transitioning back to Pole and to work.

Salutations,

I arrived at South Pole to take on my added role a couple of days ago. I stayed in McMurdo a little longer than I would have liked, but I'm glad to get going to Pole and get down to business. Right now, I'm in the process of turnover with the winter overs so that I can remember how to do my job and transition smoothly.

While I was staying in McMurdo, I decided to take on Ob Hill again just so that I could get my head clear that day and get some exercise. I hiked the hill two years ago, but they didn't have wind turbines on one of the neighboring hills. After thinking about it, seeing those turbines on the seventh continent reminds me of my job position. The transition from fossil fuels to greener forms of energy and me going from Met to Senior Met has some parallels to it.

If they take care of the energy transition here, they could do it anywhere. Also I feel that I would do a good enough job with the added responsibilities if the transition goes well. So far it has been, but other things on station are making things a little more difficult. On that note, things should be more exciting when I get my two new workers down here sometime next week. Expect an update then.

Until then, toodles.

What? You're back for more!?

Hello everyone,

It's about that time of the year when my thoughts turn south, in a good way of course. I've returned to Antarctica and have resumed my weather duties at the South Pole. This time, I would be in charge of said weather duties and it would be a case of same duties as before, just more responsibilities that go along with them as well as making sure everyone else does what they are supposed to do.

That said, I will be the good soldier and not bash or throw anyone or any department under the bus on this page. I will do my best to focus on the ups and downs and learning experiences that I encounter.

Before chilling in McMurdo, I was in Christchurch, NZ for a couple of days, the first since an earthquake rocked the Canterbury region last month. I did see some off what nature's wrath can offer. While I have experienced some rumblers in my time in Reno, NV, this was clearly the first time that I have been in a spot where a 7 had hit in a very recent time. Even though this is a bad sight of a building being scaffolded and taken down, Christchurch had done a good job getting things back together and still it's a wonderful place to visit.

With that, I'll leave for now and hope to bring to you more tales from the ice in the near future.

End of of another season and wrap-up.

It's that time again, to say our good-byes for one part of our lives and say hello to the new adventures ahead. I finished my second summer season at the South Pole and I will say that it went very well. The last couple of weeks may have been hectic with us being short-handed for a while and the rest of the swing shift crew in the other departments essentially working night due to the flight schedule. All in all, we made it and everybody can move on to the next phase in their objectives.

As for myself I'm relieved that I back and that I can sit back and enjoy myself for a little while. But before then, a brief introduction to the people that I worked with this year. Tim (left) was our supervisor and will be wintering after a second effort. We also have Molly (second from right) our lieutenant from the Air Guard and Dale (right), a former Air Force meteorologist who likes good beer and Nebraska football.

On my way back, I finally caught my first penguin on camera while waiting to board the C-17 at McMurdo. This is rare for me since there is no wildlife at the Pole, so I'm lucky to have a good shot of it.

Happy trails everyone and I'll hope to see you again soon.

A chance to be a hero...?

Greetings,

Weather certainly has been a challenge for me ever since I moved to swing shift. It has been up to me to observe and forecast the weather at the South Pole so that we could make our evening flights.

On Monday, fog rolled in to the Pole and we had a number of distinguished visitors (DVs-reporters) who needed to get back to McMurdo Station. I needed a minimum of 1 mile visibility in order for the plane to arrive safely. The plane circled around about 20 miles away for about an hour before it tried to land. I did an observation that had the one mile visibility. However, 5 minutes later, the visibility dropped to a 1/2 a mile. I was getting nervous that the Air Guard would be unhappy with me. They tried twice to land in the low clouds and the fog, but they missed the approach. They turned around and headed back to McMurdo so they wouldn't run out of fuel. Of course, 15 minutes after they turned around, the visibility was 3 miles and better conditions to land the plane.

Overall, the reporters spent the night at the South Pole, which most of them were not terribly disappointed about it. We all have our 'what if' moments once in a while. This would have been one of those times.

On one of our clearer days, there were some awesome halo shots. This happens when ice crystals race across the sky and when they get hit by the sun's rays at the right angles, we get to see some of these halos that are pictured here.

I hope you enjoy my story and pictures today. Until next time....

A Dash to the Finish Line with a staggered start.

Greetings,

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to push the nose to the grindstone and finish the season strong. I'm on the move to swing shift in the next two days and I feel that I'm ready to do another 6 week stretch.

The Christmas and New Year's holidays were fun with not much work that I had to take care of, so it was nice for a couple of weeks with that. Also, I have to decide where to go for my time off and I'm no better off finding a location that I was when I started this year. Hopefully things will change in the next couple of weeks.

I'll do my best to keep things updated, but like life at the Pole, things can change.

Take care until next time.

December Catch-up and Holiday Time.

Howdy,

It's been one busy month, this December. So much so that I've had another drought on this blog.

One bit of new involving my days in Nevada was that an article that I'm a co-author on did get published. I'm excited for that. Now, if I had the time and the resources to finish the article that I'm the lead author on...

Also, our Meteorology Department was awarded a safety medal for working so safely on the station. I believe that this accomplishment was mentioned in an Iowa news station somewhere, I think Sioux City. As for the South Pole itself, it has been warmer than normal, but yet there have been plenty of clear to partly cloudy days, which is a little unusual with this combination.

Christmas has come and gone, but I still want to make sure that you and your loved ones enjoy your holiday season.

Until next time.

Time to stop and smell the....glycol??

Hello again,

I hope things are going well for you wherever you are reading this. I just want to take some time to remind you to enjoy life a little bit, take advantage of what's around you and don't wrap yourself up in a myriad of mini-tasks. I maybe feeling that way with things on station and things that I have yet to begun. So, instead of rushing off to other odd tasks after work, it would be better to have a good conversation with some friends or plain not just worry about the world for a while. That's the little bit of wisdom that I have to share.

FYI, glycol is the coolant that is used at the Pole to make sure nothing mechancial freezes. Have a rose on me, everyone.