Week 45 at the Pole

Monday, November 23, 2020 - 10:45am

South Pole station under sunny blue sky with some clouds
Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF

Last week it warmed up a bit at the Pole, rising from about -45 ºF (-43 ºC) to about -15 ºF (-26 ºC) over the course of the week. Much more summerlike. But rapid increases in temperature often portend unstable weather conditions. In fact, low visibility added to the delay in station opening this year, which was supposed to be last week. But although the weather was uncooperative for scheduling flights, there was enough of a break for IceCube winterover Yuya to capture some very bright sunny shots of the station and the flags at the ceremonial pole.

South Pole station in distance, some of the flags at ceremonial pole in foreground
Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF