Day 17 - May 22 2006

Today began with some improvement in the weather. The temperature crept up to 10 F and the winds slackened to about 15 mph. But still the winds were too high and the visibility was too low to work outside. JP said that this was the longest stretch of bad weather that he has ever experienced in his 26 years of working in the Arctic, 7 days straight. But the generator continued to run and the steady noise was music to our ears.



Cargo line and weatherport after 7 days of the storm. Compare with the picture taken on Day 10 - May 15

Once again we spent most of our time indoors doing small chores, cleaning the weatherport, writing reports, watching a movie (Apollo 13) and fixing meals. We ventured out for short periods to check and service the generators and to work on a couple of the tents that were partially torn and heavy with snow. By evening the winds had diminished further and the visibility had improved considerably. The sun came out and suddenly we could see the horizon and blue sky. Even the weather forecast continued to call for improving conditions.


Structures like tents and weatherports have amazing effects on blowing snow. This massive drift, now taller than a human was created by the weatherport on the downstream side where winds are lowest and the snow has a chance to settle out. Bruce Vaughn is standing along side for scale.