Christine Powell walks through the corridors of Scott Base, New Zealand’s research station in Antarctica, reaches an outside door and pushes it open. Beyond it there is nothing but a roaring wall of wind-driven snow. New Zealand filmmaker Anthony Powell posted the moment during a Condition 1 storm, the most severe weather category used at the Ross Island stations.
The Condition 1 video from Scott Base
“Antarctica Condition 1 Weather” starts as a simple tour of the base. Then the door opens onto a white blur of blowing snow, and the world outside all but disappears. When NPR shared the clip in February 2014, it described the scene as “the wildest wind I’ve ever seen” and summed up Condition 1 as “Don’t even think about going out.”
What Condition 1 means in Antarctica
Stations rate the weather so that everyone knows at a glance whether it is safe to travel or work outside. Scott Base and its neighbour, the American McMurdo Station, both use a three-level scale, from Condition 3 (normal) to Condition 1 (most severe).
At Scott Base, a Condition 1 is declared when any one of these is reached:
- Visibility below 30 metres;
- Wind above 55 knots (about 100 km/h);
- Air temperature or wind chill below −73 °C (−99 °F).
McMurdo uses almost the same thresholds: visibility under 100 feet, wind over 55 knots or wind chill below −100 °F, sustained for a minute or more. Condition 2 sits between, with winds from about 48 to 55 knots and visibility down to a quarter-mile. The exact rules for what people may do in each condition vary from station to station and from nation to nation.
Why visibility matters more than cold
The striking thing in the video is how close the danger is. A storm like this can pick up loose snow and blow it horizontally, so a person only a few metres from a building can lose sight of it. That is why storms are graded by visibility as well as by wind and temperature: a short walk between two buildings can become impossible to navigate. Stay inside and follow station instructions until the condition is lifted.
Anthony Powell and Antarctica: A Year on Ice
Anthony Powell is a New Zealand filmmaker whose work includes footage for Discovery, National Geographic and the BBC’s Frozen Planet. His first feature, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, follows a full year at McMurdo Station and Scott Base on Ross Island, including the dark winter months. It premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival on 21 July 2013 and won Best Documentary and audience awards at the Calgary International Film Festival, as well as Best Film at Scottsdale.
For more on life at the bottom of the world, read Antarctic Research Stations: Architecture for Work and Daily Life and Earth’s Coldest Temperatures: Vostok, Satellite Measurements and Antarctic Hollows.
Oh shit! Is all I can say from New Jersey.
ReplyDeletei think i pooped my pants when i she opened the door!
ReplyDelete