Author Archives: Allen Foster

Weather: The temperatures have been all over the place. It warmed up to nearly -40C with clear skies and low winds which was unusual and very welcome! Then last night it dropped back down to -60C and the winds today have picked up to nearly 20mph. With the increased winds, warmer air from further upContinue reading “April 14th – Day 105 on Ice”

Weather: Last night the weather was surprisingly clear for how windy it was. Wind speeds are up around 15-20 mph. Temperatures stay relatively warm, around -70F. The moon made a very stunning appearance yesterday. Full and low on the horizon, it looked immensely massive. Quite a few stars were also visible in the darkening skyContinue reading “April 9th – Day 100 on Ice”

Weather: Temps near -70F, windchill near -120F ; winds are expected to pick up this week, which will make for a lot of blowing snow and poor visibility. We are now entering ‘Nautical Twilight’ which means that we can begin to see planets and bright stars (weather permitting). The figure below shows a pie-chart ofContinue reading “April 8th – Day 99 on Ice”

Weather: The weather has cleared nicely today, and winds have slowed a bit. Temperature has dropped to -80F, with winds nearing 10mph. I’m not sure what the windchill is but probably nearing -120F. The sky is getting dark; the first planets and bright stars have become visible. It’s strange. It is finally feeling different here.Continue reading “April 2nd – Day 93 on Ice”

I’ve been on the continent for 3 of the total 10 months. Time has gone by quickly, between work, gym, climbing, sports and movie nights, I’ve been able to keep very busy. I even find it hard to read for an hour before I get too tired and fall asleep. With the internet now upContinue reading “March 30th – Day 91 on Ice”

Weather: The clouds cleared up for a few hours late last night into early morning this morning. Temperatures and wind stayed nearly the same; 15-20mph winds and temps near -75F. Weather changes moods… or at least it changes the feel of a place. Yesterday the high winds blew snow off the ground and created aContinue reading “March 28th – Day 89 on Ice”

Weather: Windy and overcast, temperatures near -65F, winds up near 20mph keeping the windchill down below -100F. The pressure altitude has been pretty high over the last few days; above 11000 ft. We got our winter-over numbers yesterday; I’m number 1581. This means that (including this year) there have only been about 1600 people toContinue reading “March 27th – Day 88 on Ice”

Weather: It has been cold! Temperatures have dropped to nearly -90F as the weather cleared around sunset. Due to atmospheric refraction, the sun was still visible for a few days after official sunset, though today it’s so windy that blowing snow has reduced visibility to a quarter mile. We had our station sunset dinner onContinue reading “March 24th – Day 85 on Ice”

Weather: Cloudy, windy and blowing snow due to clear by dinner this evening, which will make for a beautiful sunset dinner. Temperature -70F, windchill -109F. Though the sun in technically below the horizon (nearly completely) the atmospheric refraction makes it look as though it is still fully above the horizon. Tonight we prepare for aContinue reading “March 21st – Day 82 on Ice.”