I'm here!

We made it! After a five-hour flight, we landed safely on the Pegasus ice strip and boarded "Ivan the Terra Bus" snow tractor for a one-hour drive over sea ice to McMurdo Station. Weather was "Condition 3" -- winds less than 48 knots (about 55 mph), wind chills warmer than -75 degrees Fahrenheit, and visibility greater than 1/4 mile. It was clear enough to make out four emperor penguins on the sea ice nearby!

Tomorrow morning, we begin our survival training in the field. Internet is slow here, but I will post more about what it takes to prepare for severe weather, in addition to the geography of the McMurdo sound area soon...

Wow, I am at the bottom of the World! The scenery is simply breathtaking. Really, there are no words to describe it.

Another 24-hour delay, but tomorrow's a go!

This morning (January 7, New Zealand time), we received word that we had another 24-hour delay. Yet, we just heard that tomorrow morning's flight is a go. Hopefully, the next post you read from me will be live from the ice!

Boomerang: Antarctica and back in one day

Weather is quite the celebrity around the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch the past two days. To hear more about yesterday's flight delay, check out my Capital Weather Gang post. Also, learn more about preparation for the flight south and see photos at Earth Gauge.

The following is a personalized version of the content that will be posted on Capital Weather Gang and Earth Gauge in the next couple of days. Please visit my traveling partner Dan Satterfield's Wild Wild Weather blog for even more photos, videos and in-depth coverage of our travel experience!

Jan. 6, 2010

3:00 p.m. (New Zealand time)

Boomerang: Return to the initial position from where it came.

I am currently in a U.S. Air National Guard C-17 “Pegasus” cargo jet flying over the South Pacific from Christchurch, New Zealand -- hub of the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program -- to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I have to laugh. Upon waking up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, I had a gut feeling that today was not the day I would be going to Antarctica. After a 24-hour delay on our flight from New Zealand to Antarctica yesterday morning, I ignored this morning’s intuition, hoped for the best and went through the motions with the expected excitement. And now, after five hours in the air, we are going to boomerang -- that is, turn around and fly back to Christchurch because conditions at McMurdo are too bad to land on an airstrip made of ice. However, as you can see in the photo above, we are lucky enough to fly over the Antarctic continent before doing a u-turn.

The Trans-Antarctic mountains below our jet ... simply breathtaking.

4:30 p.m

By this morning, the skies at McMurdo had cleared from a storm yesterday and visibility had improved. Forecast models suggested that the window would remain open through early afternoon, but hinted that conditions could again deteriorate. A few hours into the flight, the pilots warned us that there was a 50/50 chance we would boomerang.

In the off-chance that weather improved at McMurdo, the pilots waited until the last possible minute to decide whether or not to turn back. Peeking out of the few small porthole windows over the past few hours, we saw amazing landscapes of white sea ice and glaciers under the bluest of skies, until we came within 130 miles of McMurdo. We circled around McMurdo for one hour before the pilots received the report that the weather would not clear any time soon. The cloud ceiling was two low, visibility was too poor, and pilots would not have been able to distinguish the low cloud ceiling from the runway of ice about 2500 feet below.

Since November, the 2009-2010 austral (Southern Hemisphere) summer has had more boomerang flights and no-fly days than the past few years, all due to Antarctic weather. So, we are not the first to boomerang this season.

Antarctic weather has a mind of it’s own, and can get tricky to forecast. Without internet or satellite data, Dan Satterfield, Chief Meteorologist at WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, and I -- both part of the Antarctic reporting team traveling this week -- had fun trying to guess what was happening. Even though travel delays and long flights have resulted, the past two days’ weather-related changes to our itinerary have been rather exciting for weather folk. I wish I knew more about Southern Hemisphere and polar weather!

Even though I have spent a week in transit to this astounding continent and have now seen it with my own eyes, it seems that the atmosphere is not yet ready for our arrival. It is a difficult feeling to fly over the ice without landing. Still, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to view this amazing scenery from the air!

Our trip will go on, despite the delays. If there’s one thing you can’t blame, it’s the weather.

Inside the C-17 jet.

11:30 p.m.

After a 10-hour flight, we returned safely to Christchurch, but the stratus is still being blown in by easterly winds around McMurdo. We’re going to try again in several hours. Keep your fingers crossed that McMurdo clears by afternoon and we land safely on the ice ...

Update:

January 7, 2010

5:30 a.m.

We have a three-hour delay.

7:30 a.m.

Just kidding ... we have another 24-hour delay.

I really, really love weather. However, right now, our relationship is complicated. :)

Flight Delayed

Our flight was just delayed 24 hours. If you check out the webcam and current conditions at McMurdo Station, you'll understand why! Keep your fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow ...

Off to Antarctica

In just 10 hours, I'll be on a C-17 military jet to McMurdo Station. Today, we were issued our Extreme Cold Weather clothing. I'll write more later, but this photo is a sneak peak to the 24 pounds of wool, polar fleece, polypropylene, leather and plastic items in the two duffel bags that were handed to me ... I'm in there somewhere!

Cross your fingers for good flying weather to McMurdo ... see you on the Ice!

Christchurch: Gateway to the Antarctic

Three days ago, after about 25 hours of travel time, I arrived safely in Christchurch, a quaint and beautiful city of about 350,000. Dan and I have been busy familiarizing ourselves with the equipment we will be using in Antarctica, including three video cameras, four digital cameras and two laptops. Cold temperatures can limit the effectiveness of electronics (especially their batteries), so it is essential to learn the limitations of our equipment and be extra prepared with back-ups. In addition, bright sunlight and reflection from snow and ice will take some getting used to.

Christchurch, also known as 'The Garden City' and 'International Gateway to Antarctica' has played a significant role in the history of Antarctic exploration. In the late 1800's and early 1900's there was a race among nations to be the first to reach the South Pole. Two explorers from the UK -- Captain Robert F. Scott (pictured at right) and Ernest Shackleton -- used the Port of Lyttleton in Christchurch (pictured below) as the base for their expeditions. In 1911, Roald Amundsen from Norway became the first to reach the Pole, beating Scott by only one month. He, his crew, and nearly 100 sled dogs set up a small hut on the coast of Antarctica and journeyed inland to the Pole.

It is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and very much summer here in Christchurch. We have lucked out with sunny to partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to high 20's C (high 70's to low 80's F) so far. Today, we will meet the National Science Foundation representative and other journalists who will be joining us for the trip, as well as pick up our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing and do a bit of training (more on that in another post later today). Tomorrow morning, we depart Christchurch for McMurdo Station -- our first stop in Antarctica -- and much colder temperatures!