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Week 2 - November 7, 1999 to November 13, 1999

Date: 11/13/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −4°C, Max −1°C, Min −4°C
Wind speed: 26 knots, gusts to 36 knots
Wind Chill: Not Given
Wind direction: S
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Another day of chores including moving boxes and repacking equipment. Tracy Dahl made it to Siple Dome and then on to Byrd camp yesterday by twin otter airplane. He helped groom the landing strip and gave it the OK for landing C-130 cargo planes. The first flight is scheduled for today to carry equipment and Amy Dahl, the camp manager, to Byrd camp. If everything goes well six team members will fly to Byrd on Wednesday.

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Date: 11/12/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −4°C, max −3°C, min −6°C last 24 hrs
Wind speed: 6 knots, gusts to 42 knots
Wind Chill: not given
Wind direction: SE
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Team members are working on the Automatic Weather Stations that will be deployed in the field and continuing work with the ice radar system. Nothing else is new. The weather continues to be difficult to fly in and the forecast is for more blustery and snowy conditions.

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Date: 11/11/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −4°C
Wind speed: 11 knots max gusts to 64 knots
Wind Chill:−28 C
Wind direction: Se
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Life in McMurdo continues on. Flights to Byrd surface camp have been delayed again due to weather. No one is bored though as there are many things that can be done in McMurdo that are normally done the first few days in the field. This way the team members can work on equipment indoors out of the wind and finish the day with a hot indoor meal.

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Date: 11/10/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −7°C
Wind speed: 2 knots
Wind Chill: −29°C
Wind direction: SW
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Still in McMurdo. The weather has prevented all planes from leaving and arriving. Some ITASE equipment was to be dropped at Byrd Station today but the flight was postponed until further notice. Most of the preparations for travel to Byrd have been completed. The ITASE team is occupying their time by staying healthy and staying fit.

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Date: 11/08/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −10°C, last 24 hr high of 3°C
Wind speed: 12 knots
Wind Chill: −29°C
Wind direction: SE
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Most of the team practiced roped skidoo travel on the Ross Ice Shelf. The safety training included crevasse rescue yesterday. The vehicles are being loaded for transport to Byrd Station. A plane arrived today from New Zealand bring in the last of the ITASE team. The barometric pressure is steady at 29.23 and visibility is unrestricted. The weather has been clear for the last two days though the wind has been howling. The maximum wind gust in the last 24 hours was 62 knots. The wind chill was −21°C at the time of the last measurement.

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Date: 11/08/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −7° C
Wind speed: 36 knots
Wind Chill: −29°C
Wind direction: SSW
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Everyone continues to check and pack gear. The weather is relatively good with visibility of 400 feet and a barometric pressure of 29.26 and rising. More planes are expected from New Zealand today.

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Date: 11/07/99
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: −2°C
Wind speed: calm
Wind Chill: −29°C
Wind direction: not given
Meters of ice collected: 0

Notes on daily life:

Life in McMurdo goes on. Everyone is still packing group and personal gear. All the food is packed and loaded on palettes ready to be air-lifted to Byrd Station. The wind during yesterday's storm caused enough drifting snow to bring out the snow plows. Though this morning's weather is very fair the next storm is visible on the horizon. The barometric pressure is 28.88 and steady but by 9 a.m. it had already begun to snow. Yesterday's minimum temperature was −6°C with maximum wind gusts of 67 knots and the minimum wind chill at −28°C in the last 24 hours. On Saturday night there was a Disco Fever dance for station personnel. Highlights for Sunday include a presentation by Dr. Paul Mayewski.

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