11 October, 1998

Our plans for an outing were foiled again by the weather - right now the wind is howling, enough to make the building shake! Weather conditions are classified and broadcasted around the base by way of signal lights. Condition 1 (todays weather) is signaled with a red light. Condition 1 is called when any of the following occurs within an hour:

sustained winds exceeding 55 knots (66 mph)

wind chill lower thatn -100 F

visibility less than 100 feet

Condition 1 carries the following restrictions:

people remain inside

all missions requires approval

vehicles with approval for travel must be radio equipped vehicles must check in with the Firehouse Dispatch

all travel must be with a minimum of two persons

Condition 2, signaled with a yellow light, is called when any of the following criteria occur within an hour:

sustained winds of 48 to 55 knots (58- 66 mph)

wind chill of -75 to -100 F

visibility 1/4 mile to 100 feet

Condition 2 carries the following restrictions:

pedestrians remain in McMurdo base area

Vehicle travel outside the base require approval

vehicles with approval for travel must be radio equipped vehicles must check in with the Firehouse Dispatch

Condition 3 has no signal light and is called with the following conditions: sustained winds less than 48 knots (58 mph)

wind chill higher than -75 F

visibility greater than 1/4 mile

Condition 3 carries the following restrictions:

routine safety and exposure precautions

Since we couldn't leave the base, Skip (another TEA) and I spent some time working out the fine details of sending digital pictures to the Web site, I think we've finally got it! I also spent a great deal of time working on my insulin doses. I have partially isolated insulin from samples brought back last year, and want to test its biological activity with the fish we've caught this year. Its a bit tricky determining the amount of insulin I should use. The rest of the day was spent resoponding to questions sent from students ( and of course a few breaks for meals!)