Antarctica’s Ferocious Blizzards

The Summer Camp Huts after a Blizzard

An Antarctica Blizzard (video)

Antarctica is known as the home of the Blizzard, which can be best be described as ‘Baraf ka toofan’- copious amounts of snow blown around by high velocity winds, winds often exceeding 150kph (80kt), winds ferocious enough to blow away anything in its path, and snow so blinding as to reduce visibility to a few cms. You might be holding someone’s hand but you won’t be able to see him. One can spend hours going around the station without even seeing it. Any outdoor activity is impossible. Maintaining one’s balance is in itself a huge task. Snow percolates one’s nostrils, dungaree zippers, shoes, shoe laces- everywhere. Even a one mm hole in a station wall is sufficient to allow tonnes of snow to accumulate inside the station. Sealing such holes and clearing the snow is a perpetual task during a blizzard.

Me !!!!!!...... Astronaut????

We........... After a Blizzard

Look at the marker on the wind guage going beyond the range (more than 110kt- 200kph)

A blizzard, once started can continue for days, sometimes weeks, at a stretch. And one blizzard follows another, usually at a few days’ interval during the winters. Such is the intensity of a blizzard that snowfall is horizontal rather than vertical. Hence, snow accumulation is minimal to nil except on the leeward side of an obstruction. Snow hits any exposed bit of skin with such force, so as to send a shock down one’s spine. It tends to accumulate on snow goggles and form a layer of ice on it. Several people have died in Antarctica, getting lost in blizzards.
Structures in Antarctica are designed to resist such high intensity winds. Any loose object can become a missile. The station is built on stilts to allow wind and snow to pass below it and thereby minimize snow accumulation along its walls. There have been instances of entire loaded containers being blown away by such winds. They have to be strategically placed to prevent such happenings. All summer huts have to be anchored properly.
Blizzards, and not the cold, are the most challenging natural phenomena in the frigid land of Antarctica, especially in the coastal regions.

Icebergs and sea ice

Tragedy Strikes Maitri

1st June 2009 was a sad day for Indian Polar Science. Mr Kuldeep Wali, a scientist from the Indian Meteorological Department died of a massive heart attack. This is the first time that a team member of the Indian Antarctic Expedition has lost his life during the polar winter. Most unfortunate is the fact that his body cannot be brought home under any circumstances before October at the least. There is absolutely no possibility for a plane to land in Antarctica during the winters. The only 2 options are either to cremate the body of the scientist at Maitri, or to wait till the flights resume in October.

Such a situation would surely have shattered the morale of the 28th Indian Scientific Expedition, currently wintering over at Maitri. This is the worst that can happen in the extreme isolation of the Antarctic winter, possibly the most stressful time in the lives of most of the team members.

The Anatomy of an Antarctic Convoy-V (Exploring Indian Coastal Camp)

The Indian Coastal Camp

The Banjara Kitchen

I used to have plenty of time at hand. I used to do odd jobs & help out the other convoy team membes in whatever way I could. I used to explore the area, fiddling with the equipment & investigating each crack in the ice. From the edge of the ice shelf, one could see the vast frozen ocean with icebergs entrapped in it. The icebergs changed their colour with the time of the day and the angle of the sun. There was a huge crevasse nearby. But we were wisely forbidden to venture anywhere close to it. On the edge of the shelf were 3 poles to which the ship moored in the summers. The shelf also had a well stocked porta cabin with sleeping arrangements for 5-6 people. This was meant for emergency use, just in case some summer team member working on the shelf was not able to make it back to the ship in time before the weather turned bad. It had a generator attached to it, though that was not needed during summers. Apart from this, there was an assortment of cranes, snow scooter, containers, oil tankers to explore.

Icebergs Entrapped in The Sea Ice

On the Frozen Ocean

Finally, when work was completed, departure was planned for the next morning, usually 8 AM. But we were invariable delayed because one or the other vehicles refused to start owing to the intense cold. Then began the long march back home. On returning to Maitri, even that small hub of habitation in the middle of nowhere was like manna from heaven. Were we not pleased to be back? A warm welcome & hot dinner awaited us, before we plonked into bed, dead to the world.
The convoy was the high point of my Antarctica experience. It made my trip more complete. Without the convoy experience, I would have felt something missing & regretted it for long.