14 September, 2001

Weekly Climate Summary - South Pole Station, Antarctica

07 September 2001 through 13 September 2001 UTC

Temperature:

Average Temp... -50.8°C / -59.4°F

Maximum Temp... -33.8°C / -28.8°F on day 12

Minimum Temp... -64.8°C / -84.6°F on day 9

Wind:

Average wind speed.......... 17.7 mph or 15.4 knots

Prevailing wind direction... Grid Northwest

Maximum wind speed.......... 42 mph or 36 knots on day 11

Maximum wind direction...... Grid North

Average vectored wind....... 026 degrees at 12.9 knots

Station Pressure:

Average pressure... 687.2 mbs

Highest pressure... 699.0 mbs on day 13

Lowest pressure.... 680.0 mbs on day 10

Physio-altitude:

Average physio-alt = 10358 ft/ 3157 m

Highest physio-alt = 10628 ft/ 3239 m on day 10

Lowest physio-alt = 9920 ft/ 3024 m on day 13

Sky Cover:

Average cloud cover (8ths)... 7

Days clear................... 0

Days partly cloudy........... 2

Days cloudy.................. 5

Sunshine:

Sunrise on 22 September 2001

Average hours per day... 0.0

Percent of possible..... 0

Visibility:

4 days with visibility of 1/4 mile or less.

Balloon flight data:

Number of soundings for the week..... 7

Average height of soundings.......... 142.7 mb, or 14210 meters Highest sounding..................... 26.5 mb, or 21747 meters

on day 08/00Z flight

0 soundings were missed.

7 soundings were terminated due to balloon burst.

**RECORDS**

Day 11 - The daily maximum temperature of -34.7°C / -30.5°F broke the previous daily record of -35.9°C / -32.6°F set in 1984.

- The daily peak wind speed of 36 knots / 42 mph broke

the previous daily record of 35 knots / 40 mph set in 1961.

Day 12 - The daily maximum temperature of -33.8°C / -28.8°F broke the previous daily record of -39.7°C / -39.5°F set in 1983.

Katie Wallet

Supervisor of Science

Spotsylvania County Schools