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[STORMREPORTS] Biggest Blizzard in 10 Years Hits Scott Base, Antarctica

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From: Jesse Ferrell (WeatherMatrix) (ferrell{at}weathermatrix.net)
Date: Wed May 19 2004 - 07:47:19 EDT

SCOTT BASE WEATHER STATION GRAPHS:
http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/weather/SBweather/May2004.htm

SCOTT BASE WEBCAM:
http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/Pages/InfoEducation/webcam.msa

OTHER ANTARCTIC WEATHER:
http://www.wunderground.com/global/Region/AN/Temperature.html

FULL STORY (NZ):
<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3567269&thesection=news&thesubsection=general>

QUOTES:
"Just hours after arriving at an A-frame hut about 3km from New Zealand's
Scott Base, the base's first-aid officer, Barbara Rennie from Christchurch,
and an American companion were caught in one of the worst storms to hit
Antarctica in living memory.

The 15-hour gale blew off a hangar door, blew in the windows on two
vehicles and overturned two shipping containers at Scott Base on
Sunday. About 2am, Ms Rennie and Erik Richards, a satellite-tracking
technician at the nearby US McMurdo Station, woke up to hear their hut
"shuddering and rattling" in icy southerlies which reached a frightening
140 knots. Their bedding had been soaked by snow that had got in around
the windows and down the chimney.

By 6am the chimney was so blocked with snow that the diesel heater,
normally kept running to stop things freezing even when the hut is empty,
was producing sparks and setting off the fire alarm. In temperatures of
minus 20C, the couple made the hard decision to shut down the heater."

FULL STORY (AP):
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/05/19/antarctic.chilly.ap/

QUOTES:
"New Zealand medic Barbara Rennie and her American partner Derek Richards
booked a small hut that doubles as a holiday chalet, two kilometers (1.2
miles) from New Zealand's Scott Base science settlement on the coast of
Antarctica, for a weekend together.

But a blizzard slammed into the region with icy blasts driving snow into
the hut and clogging its chimney -- forcing the couple to turn off their
diesel heater because of the danger of fumes while temperatures outside
plunged to negative 50 degrees Celsius (negative 58 Fahrenheit).

A team from Scott Base rescued them 16 hours later, when the storm eased.

Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson said the storm was the
biggest to hit Scott Base in 10 years." 

-- 
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Jesse Ferrell - Meteorologist / Webmaster / Founder - WeatherMatrix
8000 Weather Enthusiasts Can't Be Wrong! www.weathermatrix.net 

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