Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

fine sunset effect on the Coronation peaks. That night it was clear and starlit but
there were still patches of low cloud.
Midwinter l949. Midwinter came round again. On 21 June the temperature was
+0.5°C with snow and drift all day. On 3 July: it dropped to -15.5°C during the day
but rose rapidly to -1°C just before midnight. Foul weather followed until, on 8 July,
it fell again during the night and was down to -16°C in the morning. The clouds
began to clear and it promised to be a fine day, but I was rather disturbed to note the
encroachment of loose pack and open water to the south and west; that meant that
the north coast of Coronation Island might be open. The open conditions extended
around Signy in a U-shaped curve with a large pool of open water at Cape Vik and
more open water at Return Point. 10 July was a day which began well and appeared
to be improving but fog came in and cut down visibility. Later it snowed and the
temperature fell from -3.5°C in the morning to -12°C.
Next day, a foggy dull day with temperature falling from -17°C to -22°C, was
followed by a day with temperatures down to -27C - a lovely clear sunny day. Then
came a blizzard all next day with wind around 50 mph and temperatures rising a
degree or so. This was followed by a cold but sunny day, when temperatures fell
from -25.5°C to -32°C. The temperature was down to similar levels next morning and
continued to fall during the day. That night it was -34.5°C and as it was a clear night
it would likely get colder by radiation.
But the overturn in the weather that we had become used to followed as the
temperatures rose again. 16 July was a fine morning with temperature at -24.5°C
rising during the day to -14°C, followed by a muggy day with a starting temperature
of -2°C; it snowed most of that day. Next day the temperature was down again
remaining around -26°C to -28°C falling in the evening to -31°C and fell during the
night by a further degree. Although it had risen a little by morning it was
nevertheless still very cold owing to the wind. It rose to -23°C during the day and
then later shot up above zero, heralding poor weather again. So filthy weather - gale
and blizzard - ensued and we had a succession of mainly poor days in the second
half of August, with temperatures about -1°C and everything wet. The wind was at
gale force, with wet snow and sleet, not at all pleasant.
The pattern was broken briefly at the end of August, a glorious day, with
temperatures of around -20°C. We climbed Roberts Bluff and surveyed although the
wind was cold on the fingers. There were fine views and we saw that the lead had
closed up. Later Charlie and I went up to the top again for a lovely sunset and
afterglow. Next day the bad weather resumed, a gale and high temperatures
continued all day and the lead widened considerably. But it became colder the next
day, 1 September, when the temperature fell to -20.5°C by evening. A cold wind and
low visibility made it very unpleasant outside and I ventured no further than
Observation Bluff. The lead had encroached further and now extended well to the
south.
On 2 September the temperature which was -18.5°C in the morning rose to -5°C
by evening and the rise was accompanied by wind and drifting snow. The lead to
the east was very much larger now and at one point there was open water on the
horizon. There was a rapid clearance: deep purple clouds with a golden rim threw up
Jane Peak in sharp white silhouette and above was a deep ultramarine sky and a
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