Cold seems to be what most people think when asked about the idea of going to Antarctica, but how cold will it be in reality? I decided to look at historical data for McMurdo Station for the months of February, March and April and compare it to our local temperatures here in Madison Wisconsin. To my surprise, it seems that December in Wisconsin can actually be colder than McMurdo in February!!
Here is a picture of the readings from the automated weather station above my classroom on December 15, 2010. Temperature: -1 F
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Here is the historical data from the International Station Meteorological Climate Summary, Version 4.0
Historical temperatures for McMurdo Station (International Station Meteorological Climate Summary, Version 4.0)
As you can see, the -1 F that we had in Madison is 12 F colder than the February average in McMurdo! I must say that the -1 F is not the average temperature for Madison. It was recorded at 7 am during a cold Arctic spell that we had during a week or two. It does seem that the warmest day of our trip could be about what the coldest day we had this December in Madison
McMurdo cools down fast as the fall arrives there. The average temperature is -4 F in March and -12 in April. It will be interesting to see what the temperatures will be once we are aboard the Palmer. I expect them to be warmer than at McMurdo, since the open waters will modulate the cold temperature blowing from the continent.
I would say people are correct when they think of cold in Antarctica, but I will be traveling along the 'tropical' Antarctica. Summer temperatures at the North Pole can still be -50 F !