Hello—

Needless to say, I did not write anything on this blog last year. It was a combination of me being busy, lazy, and also not sure what to write about the second time around. I hope this year is different and I think I will have some new experiences to share.

I arrived in McMurdo Station on August 22nd and will be here until approximately mid-February 2011. There were 7 flights that brought employees down in August for the season that is called “Winfly” (Mid-Winter-Fly-In). Most of us are here to bring the station up to a high-functioning level for the Mainbody season that starts end of September. My typical job as the facilities draftsperson does not start until Mainbody, but I have a special project for Winfly that was funded separately. For about 6 weeks I will be scanning a lot of old building plans that live in McMurdo and never been digitized. It’s a pretty nice gig to be able to deploy early and get to see the town at a colder, darker, quieter time of year. I know a lot of people who spent the entire winter here and it is also nice to see them before they leave within the next month.

Winter- March to August, turns to 24 hour darkness, pretty cold, population approximately 250.

Winfly- August to September, slowly turning light out, still pretty cold, current population 500.

Mainbody- October to February, all daylight, cold, average population 1,000-1,200 (and I hear we’ll even exceed that this year).

From what I hear, the winter was a pretty drama-free season with mild weather actually (average winter temps are -15F + windchill). Right around now, the temperature probably averages around -30F with wind chill that can hit -70 degrees F. This weather isn’t uncommon in October, but it is definitely more consistent during this little springtime of August and September. Once summer starts peaking, temperatures vary but usually stay up above freezing and can even get to be around +30F.

About every 2 days, after little storms pass, we get great skies, long sunsets, and bright stars during the ever-decreasing dark night.