March 19, 2007
9AM
No hot air over WAIS, back to the Blue Ice where it seems to never leaves. I believe there will continue to be a 'warm air mass' over the Blue Ice. In animation however it is noted that at 12 AM it is cooler but not yet freezing. The warmer air masses are at 6AM and 6PM. They register differently in location so they are not a repetition of information by the satellite.
The 'WAIS event' of last week indicates to me there is sublimination of the Tall Blue Ice. The warmer air reached a point whereby when cooled by the subliming ice became heavier and fell to lower elevations at the periphery/shoreline of the continent. With that temperature crisis resolved, it would seem to return to a 'static cycle' whereby the event might be repeated over and over. I would expect the 'heat intrusion' to cool enough to stop the cycle when Antarctica falls into complete darkness, however, if that does not happen it can be concluded the 'heat intrusion' is directly receiving it's heat from higher latitudes where it continues to homogonize with vortices delivering 'heat transfers' to the ice continent.
Frozen temperatures at the lower elevations is returning but the deep freeze of higher latitudes remains mostly static in nature indicating a heat movement over The Blue Ice.
The coldest spot which remains static is Vostok :
Vostok, Antarctica
Elevation: 11220 ft / 3420 m
Temperature: -75 °F / -59 °C
Humidity: 36%
Dew Point: -82 °F / -64 °C
Wind: 9 mph / 15 km/h from the NNW
Wind Gust: -
Pressure: in / hPa (Falling)
Visibility: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers
Raw METAR Aviation
Flight Rule: VFR ()
Wind Speed: 9 mph / 15 km/h /
Wind Dir: 340° (NNW)
Ceiling: 100000 ft / 100000 m
The warmest is still on The Peninsula, where noted on animation is very warm as is a small section of WAIS at 6PM.
Base Orcadas, Antarctica
Elevation: 20 ft / 6 m
Temperature :: 36 °F / 2 °C
Heavy Drizzle
Humidity: 98%
Dew Point: 36 °F / 2 °C
Wind: 23 mph / 37 km/h / from the North
Wind Gust: -
Pressure: 28.53 in / 966 hPa (Falling)
Visibility: 1.0 miles / 1.0 kilometers
UV: 1 out of 16
Clouds: Mostly Cloudy 295 ft / 90 m
Scattered Clouds 1969 ft / 600 m
(Above Ground Level)
Raw METAR Aviation
Flight Rule: LIFR ()
Wind Speed: 23 mph / 37 km/h /
Wind Dir: 0° (North)
Ceiling: 300 ft / 90 m
* Side Note - Accurate Aviation information is important to the folks on Antarctica. It's how they get around.
