It's currently 10:30am on Tuesday, 2 December. I was scheduled to leave this morning on a Kiwi C130, but that plane hasn't yet arrived from Christchurch due to the nasty weather we've had over the past few days.
About 15 minutes ago the weather condition was moved to condition 1 due to visibility. There is currently blowing snow and visibility less than 50 feet. The winds are gusting between 60-70mph, shaking building 175. Last night it was condition 2 all night long and I slept very poorly, waking up regularly due to the LOUD wind noise in our room and the feeling of the bed being shaken as the building rattled from the power of this ferocious storm. As soon as it hits condition 1, foot travel is forbidden and every person on station must be accounted for. If anyone doesn't check in, a Search and Rescue (SAR) is initiated. I had been wanting to see a condition 1 since we got here, just for the complete Antarctic experience, but I certainly didn't want it the day we were supposed to leave. I stepped outside real quick to take a video of the conditions, you can see it here.
We just received word that the flight from Christchurch is not going to leave today, either, so the earliest we'll be getting out of here now will be Thursday.
