Week 36 at the Pole
A new temperature record for 2016 was set at the Pole last week—a low of –107.9 °F. The extremely cold temperatures didn’t stop one station inhabitant from climbing the outdoor staircase is short sleeves. But the temperatures did cause other problems. Since it was too cold to use the elevator, all of the food for the week needed to be brought up the stairs of the beer can by hand. Then, an even longer detour unfolded since there were areas of the station where floor remodeling was underway and therefore were off limits. But many hands (along with a roller conveyor) make light work, and the food completed its journey. The sun, on the other hand, hasn’t quite begun its journey into the sky, although you wouldn’t guess it from the final image below—it looks like the sun’s there, but it’s a mirage from refracted rays. The sun was still almost 6 degrees below the horizon at the time.
