APPENDIX III 

 WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN SOUTH GEORGIA 



During our corrimission in the ' Discovery ' we had opportunities of studying the 

 meteorological conditions. The experience gained was useful later, when it became a 

 great deal more important, for in the ' Alert ' we were largely dependent upon weather. 



The usual meteorological laws hold good, that is, the wind commences with a falling 

 barometer and blows from the northward (north-west or north-east, but usually north- 

 west) and increases ; then, when the glass ceases to fall, the wind gradually veers towards 

 the west or east, depending on whether it commences north-west or north-east, and 

 reaches its maximum force. Finally, the glass commences to rise and the wind con- 

 tinues to veer towards the southward, gradually dying down. Northerly winds bring 

 moisture, rain or snow, and southerly winds dry and fine weather — exactly the reverse to 

 conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. Following upon the above, the south-east end 

 of South Georgia is very much drier than the north-west, no doubt because the wet 

 north-westerly wind is deprived of much of its moisture in traversing the length of South 

 Georgia, which lies with its long axis west-north-west and east-south-east. A further 

 peculiarity of winds here is caused by the steep-sided glacier valleys which cut the island 

 in all directions. The valleys remain in almost complete shelter until the wind has 

 backed or veered to the direction in which they lie, and when this has occurred the full 

 force of the gale is suddenly felt without any previous warning. An anchorage at the 

 bottom of a valley lying north-west will thus feel the maximum effect of wind when the 

 glass begins to fall and the wind to blow from north-westward, while, owing to the high 

 mountains which bound the valleys, winds from other directions are kept off. A good 

 example of this effect is Stromness Bay, with Leith Harbour (lying north-west), 

 Stromness Harbour (lying west), and Husvik (lying west-south-west). 



The temperature of South Georgia never falls very low, the least we experienced being 

 just above o° F. On the other hand, it is seldom higher than 60° F., and the average 

 temperature is not much over freezing-point, summer and winter alike. Precipitation is 

 fairly heavy in the north-west, decreasing eastward ; the south-east probably has a much 

 lower rainfall. 



Snow continues to fall until midsummer (the end of December) ; but on the other hand 

 rain has been known in mid-winter. 



Gales are almost continuous, particularly in the spring and autumn. They are of 

 considerable violence, which is increased by the glacier valleys mentioned above. On 

 one occasion, in the ' Discovery', we were literally blown out of Cumberland Bay by a 

 wind which reached hurricane violence, and when 10 miles out, the weather fell prac- 

 tically calm, although we could see the water smoke "blowing out of all the fjords, stirred 

 up by the violence of the wind. The whalers corroborate this: frequently when it is 

 blowing hard in the whaling stations, the whale-catchers in their routine telephone 

 conversations report much less wind out at sea. 



Fog is exceedingly prevalent when the weather is calm, but perhaps more so during 

 January than at any other time, and least in July. Frequently it does not penetrate into 

 the fjords, and very often it does not extend for more than 30 or 40 miles, or even less, 

 to seaward. 



