Cold Weather in McMurdo

When Boston was getting pummeled with snow and cold weather, a friend asked me if I was annoyed when people on facebook complain about the temperature.   Honestly, when I read those posts I think "wow, that's cold" even when it's probably colder here.   The reason is that I don't even think about  the weather or how cold it is here.   I never check the temperature and I'm often out and about in just a fleece (and insulated Carhartts/two shirts/long-johns and thick socks).   But I'm not always wearing that massive Canada Goose jacket they give us (read a recent article about how those are up and coming in the fashion world, BTW).     It's been around -13 lately.

 In terms of feeling the cold, I've decided that people just don't dress for the cold - come on people!  Take that extra 15 minutes to put on all those layers and you'll be toasty warm.  And so fashionable too!   Nothing better then going to a bar and having to spend 15 minutes taking off your snow pants. I get that it's annoying and there are times I don't dress for the cold and in the 4 minutes it takes to walk from one building to the next I will be FREEZING.  These times usually occur when I'm dressed up and going to the bar or going to dinner and have forgotten a critical aspect of my "extreme cold weather" gear.  Or intentionally don't take it.  Last night I had a dress on and my hair did and I literally ran from building to building because my legs were so cold and I didn't want to ruin my hair with my hat.  

In reality, I have all the tools to stay comfortable and keeping warm takes very little effort. I know exactly what I need to stay warm and there are some crucial elements that are the most important things for my comfort:  Neck gaiter, hat, gloves, warm footwear. While I, of course, will also put layers on my bigger body parts, if there's no icy wind blowing down my neck or my nose doesn't feel like it's turning into an ice crystal, it's usually pretty manageable.   While our vehicles all have heat,  the heat just blows a warmer version of cold air when I am constantly getting in and out of them and there are multiple places where the vehicle cab is open to the outside so, in general, it's pretty chilly in there.  If I can keep my extremities warm, even if I can feel the cold on my arms, I'm usually pretty good.   Unless there's WIND.  Oh man.    The wind is brutal - cuts through everything (yes even that $1000 Canada goose jacket). Ugh!   That's why it's  good to check the weather forecast (now that the cold is really coming in-i'm taking the weather a bit more seriously)    Here's the weather for April 1st.

Regional Summary	4/1/2015 7:04:58 AM
Calm to start, but bundle up! A large weather system dropping across the Ross Sea will bring cold, howlin’ easterlies today…Should see eased wind tomorrow…

McMurdo Station

  

-19°C|-2°F TEMPERATURE -24°C|-10°F WIND CHILL

SKIES: Mostly Cloudy                                                                                                            VISIBILITY (MILES): Unrestricted                                                                                         WINDS (KNOTS): NE @ 3

STATION PRESSURE: 29.210 in.

UPDATED: Apr 01, 2015 07:04 AM

How do I get ready for my day? My basic outfit is long johns, one long sleeve lightweight wool shirt, one thicker wool shirt,  mountaineer socks and then my padded Carrhart overalls.   I'll put a hooded green fleece on over all that and bring my Big Red  just in case.   I'll put on my thinsulate boots and then head up the hill to the Waste Barn.  Once there, I'll open up 12 (at least) little hot hand packets to bring with me.   I put some in my pants pockets,  my big red pockets, my fleece pockets, inside my mittens and sometimes in my shoes. .   Part of what I do to prepare for the weather is to have three pairs of hand gear.  I wear my work gloves mostly, but if I need to do something that involves some dexterity I have a pair of thin gloves- after using those, my fingers are usually frozen so at that point I'll put on my mittens (pre-warmed with the warmers) to warm my hands before switching back to the work gloves for work.   If I know it will be really cold and the steel floor of my loader will be wicking heat away from my feet, I'll put on my FDX boots, big blue boots with an insulated booty and a felt liner (of which I have two).  I avoid wearing these boots because they make my feet 4 times bigger and it's exhausting to clomp around all day, but I will put them on (with warmers inside) if my feet get cold.  

If the wind is aggressive, I'll put on two hats and pull my gaiter up over my nose and mouth.  

Lately, it's been getting really chilly.   I walked outside the other day real quick to grab something and the cold took my breath away and I started coughing.   I've become more diligent about checking the weather.  In fact, the above forecast was the first I had checked in a long while (and inspired this post) and it really helped me toward the end of my day.  Because I knew it was going to get windy (miserable for working outside) we switched our day around to avoid the weather.  Unfortunately, I'm still learning how tied down things have to be and the one cargo strap I had on all my cardboard boxes wasn't enough so I had to chase down a whole bunch that had gone flying in the last 15 minutes of my day.  I felt better when I saw other departments had also lost things during that storm. 

I've been checking the weather a bit more diligently lately and this is what I have to look forward to tomorrow: 

UPDATED: Sunday, April 05, 2015

-19°C|-2°F MAX TEMPERATURE -44°C|-47°F MIN WIND CHILL

SKIES: Mostly Cloudy VISIBILITY (MILES): Unrestricted, patchy blowing snow WINDS (KNOTS): NE-E 7-17, becoming NE-SE 15-35

The best part about this?   The high is -2!  That's warm! This weekend it was -14!  

Let me know if you have other questions about the weather!

As for the daylight, i've been taking a daily photo (usually) to chart the sunlight, as the sun goes down I'll compile them all for you! 

Weather!

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This was a moderately cold day.  My eyelashes started frosting. This was the first time this has happened to me.  Since this day it's happened quite a bit and much more aggressively. 

Here I am climbing out of an igloo all bundled up ( I didn't build it).   Notice the big FDX boots, the double hat, the gaiter, mittens and big red.  I do, indeed, have handwarmers in almost all pockets and inside my boots. 

Work in Antarctica

After my last post, I got a lot of people asking "What are you doing for work this Winter?" and I realized that I should probably talk about that.  While there's a lot of cool stuff to talk about in Antarctica we are here to work and that's what we spend most of our time doing.  

There are TONS of jobs here in Antarctica.  Last year we spent the summer as Stewards-washing dishes and cleaning toilets (for science!).   It was a great entry position, we met some amazing people and we moved on to other jobs this year.  Jamie continued on with the same company and he moved into a new role in the Galley.  For the summer, his job title was "Food Clerk" and his job was to do the ordering, organizing and supplying of the food for the Galley. His work was based out of our main kitchen but he talked with and supplied food for all the USAP fieldcamps across the continent as well as any work center party/event/needs.  Everyone who needed food talked to him and I would regularly get comments like, "Jamie Lyon is your husband?!   He is wonderful!  He helped me out just yesterday. What a great guy.”    Now that Winter has started his job has shifted a bit to “Galley Administration”.  He’s now responsible for Galley payroll and paperwork. He continues to do the food clerk position but now he also works in the kitchen as a cook.  Every day he’s  in the Salad room processing lettuce and freshies to keep the community from getting scuvy.  He’s been making our prepared salads and learning all the various machines, how to make some delicious salad dressings and how to chop a million veggies without getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, once week he’s the breakfast guy so he gets up to plan the meal and then he works on the egg line making everyones eggs to order.  By the end of the year,    He’s going to be an incredibly well-rounded Galley worker. 

Over the summer, my title was Aviations Operations Coordinator and I worked in the Aviations Operations Department.   That department coordinates any movement to Field Camps via fixed wing planes (Twin Otters, Baslers, and LC-130s) and Helicopters (Astars and Bell 212s).  My job was to help organize any passengers or cargo that was going out on those flights.  During the winter, the helicopters are put away and the planes all leave so I had to find a new job. I am now a  Recycling Technician for winter at McMurdo station.   This is just the end of my first month and I’m still learning about the things that need to get done. There are three of us working in the Waste Department for the winter (we’re called “Wasties” in the McMurdo lingo).   Travis Groh and myself in solid waste (paper/plastic/non-recyclables/etc) and Rob in Haz Waste (fuel/batteries/poisonous materials/etc).    Each day Travis and I take a drive around town changing out full dumpsters and then spend the rest of the morning processing the trash.  While that sounds simple, I’ve been amazed at how much garbage needs to be processed and sorted for a town this size (700-900ish in summer, 168 now). Last week we spent the day up  at the wood chipper trying to make a dent in the mountainous piles old wood, yesterday I was loading barrels of Urine/Grey water into a milvan the day before that I learned how use the the ram with our forklift.    Every day someone comes up to our barn and asks me a new question that I need to ask Travis about and every time I pick up a new waste bin I learn a new technique for handling my loader in a safe and efficient way.   I would say the most exciting part about my job is learning to drive the equipment.   We have two loaders, one skid loader (think Wall-E) and one Pickle (an outdated old military vehicle great for loading Con-X boxes.).    I really enjoy learning new strategies for moving things around and I’m having a lot of fun learning the equipment. In general, it's been nice to switch t a new job for Winter as it allows me to start fresh and be rejuvenated at work. 

If you are interested in what other jobs there are in Antarctica, or maybe you want apply (Applications are now OPEN for the 2015-2016 season (Oct-Feb). The earlier you apply, the better.) 

 Here are the links for the various subcontractors:

• GSC (food, housing, beverage, etc): http://gsc.applicantstack.com/x/openings
• PAE (cargo, supply, mechanics, technicians, etc):https://www.pae.com/career-search2
• Best Recycling (waste): http://bestrecycling.com/employment/employment/
• GHG (IT): https://ghg-online.ghg.com/public/index.jsp

You have to apply separately to all 3 stations (McMurdo, South Pole, Palmer)

Me and a Twin Otter!

The Twin Otter BBV and the pilot Henry at Tucker Glacier.

The view from my window when I was in the Helo Hanger working for Aviation Operations.

My co-worker Meghan and I sitting up in the cockpit of an LC-130.

An LC-130 getting ready to load that cargo and bring it back to McMurdo.

Finished up loading the plane.

All the helicopters tucked in for the long winter.

Travis and I, you know. posing on Sarah Jane-one of our loaders.

The ram I had mentioned earlier.

Ramming the Non-recyclables into a milvan.

Jamie cooking on the eggline.  This was his first morning and it was a bit hectic at the time so it was a bit unfair of me to take the picture right then.   However,  these days he generally has a smile!

The wood chipper!  Travis is in Sarah Jane and dropping the wood into that big drum and it comes off the conveyor belt on the right into a pile of woodchips. It was my job to put the woodchips into a milvan.

This little machine is a Skid Loader. This is what I was using to lad the woodchips but it's clearly also useful for carrying cargo straps around.

This is a typical line of trash containers. Starting from the left is wood, cardboard, fuel containers, glass, papertowels (aka compressible non-recyclables),  aluminium cans, food waste, papertowels, and fabrics.

Me driving around in our other loader, Terminator.  We use these loaders to pick up those full trash containers when they are full, bring them back to the Waste Barn and processing them.

Another part of my job is "spill response."  Spills in Antarctica are a big deal and when one happens we response as soon as we can.   This was my first spill response!  Some glycol has spilled out from a broken pipe and we arrived to scoop it all up and bring it up to burn off the hazardous.

Jamie at another part of his job.  Receiving and organizing all the food for our kitchen!

Winter is here!

For the residents of McMurdo Station, Winter is not marked by a set day, but rather by the last flight of summer.  On March 5th, we had a Champagne Toast as we watched the final flight of summer leave the continent.   On April 24th the sun will set and won’t rise again for four months.  It will start snowing, the stars will come out and hopefully we’ll see some Auroras. Both Jamie and I are excited about this coming season.  This winter at McMurdo will be an entirely different experience from previous.  This winter the USAP program will flying flights all season.  There will be three before the usual “winter fly-in” flight in August:  April, June, and July.   This is the first year the program has done this and many people are sad about the loss of an isolated winter.  Jamie and I, however, are indifferent as this will be the first and only winter we can compare it too.  The station population right now is 168 and will go down to the 150s after April.   I’m already beginning to recognize close to every person that comes into the Galley at mealtimes.  Aside from a decrease in population the station is also moving into winter mode.  Many dorms and buildings are being winterized and departments have started the long process of inventory and repair.  Most Science has stopped for the winter.  There is one scientist on station at this point in the year and a research assistant that will monitor the science experiments that don’t need a constant attendant.     We can still go hiking in the winter but now we need to formally check out with the firehouse, carry a radio and go in pairs.   

Right now the sun is setting and rising like a normal day.  We can leave our shades open at night and in the morning the natural light wakes us up.  It's not 100% dark when the sun "sets", it is more of a dark twilight time, but it certainly feels like a solar rotation.   For awhile, I didn't' even realize the sun had been setting because I go to bed around 10pm and it's still light out so when I was up until 11:30 one night, my mind was blown because it had gotten darkish.  Now, by 10 it's a dark twilight and around midnight it's almost truly dark out.  Very exciting to see nighttime come creeping in!

If you have any specific questions about life here,  post them in the comments and I'll work on answering them.  I'm never really sure what people want to know about!  

Everyone gathering to watch the last flight take off. 

Champagne at the ready!

There is is! The last plane of summer.  After being delayed 6 days those people were THRILLED when that plane arrived.  

Winter is finally here!  

Nothing like a little baked goodness to celebrate the start of a season. 

And now just some Antarctica scenery pictures: 

Just a lovely photo of some piping and Mt Discovery to the left and the Royal Society Mountains to the right.

A great picture of the Fata Morgana, a mirage that Jamie and I think looks like a Windows error. 

Waste Water Treatment Plant

I recently took a tour of the Waste Water Treatment Plant.  It was incredible.  It was the newest and cleanest looking building that I've seen at McMurdo.   Inside is warm and humid but it doesn't smell like anything bad; If anything it smells like dirt or grass.  This plant is currently processing waste water for about 900 people.  It's an open air system and uses no chemicals. 

These are the three "trains" filled with the water being processed.  It processes the waste from about 1500 people although our station will peak 

In the wintertime, they drain two of them and only 1 operates to process waste for the 130 people here for the winter. 

This is Zeno, our tour guide.  He works nights in the Waste Water Treatment Plant.  He is one of only two people that work that here.  They each work 12 hours a day. 

This is the macerator.  It's the first stop for the water on it's way into the plant.  It does exactly what the name suggests. 

After it's macerated it flows down and through these grates before it flows into the big tanks.  This is where Zeno and Yubecca have to fish out all the things that don't or can't get be macerated. Tampons, condoms, wads of paper towels.  Look closely, maybe you can find a recognizable object! 

You'll notice in this photo that the tank on the left has bubbles and the one on the right is more settled.   The settled portion is where they cultivate the bacteria that will then help to process all the waste. 

This is the full tank.  That settled portion is at one end and the middle is aerated with oxygen because the "bugs" love it and they are growing and reproducing here. When they are well fed, they reproduce up to 4 times in 20 seconds. 

This is the other end of the tank.  After the bugs have floated and feasted on the oxygen they flow into this tank.   Here they are starved or oyxgen and it forces them to eat one another-there by getting rid of the dangerous bacteria in the tank.  If they begin to starve, they drift to the bottom of this tank and are then recycled back to the first hold that I talked about where they are resuscitate and brought back to life. 

Next they are funneled into this sludge tank. 

When the sludge tanks fill up it's brought over into this room to be drained and processed. 

This is the side view of the machine.  The sludge gets flattened between they fabric and completely strained.  The water drips down the bottom and the dried sludge is pumped out the other end. 

Here we are looking at the sludge turned fertilizer that has been produced. 

There there's a tiny green thing growing in it! 

Here's Chelsea being so excited about the plant. 

The water that is drained off is then funneled over here and put under these UV lights before coming out the other end and being pumped out into the bay. 

And there it is!

Here's a animated version of the system. 

Here we are in the Lab were they test the water to see what's living in there. 

Here's some samples of water that we are going to look at. 

We pulled up the picture on the big screen. 

This a great video of Waterbears.