ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE AND RESEARCH 



Wind in the Antarctic 



Most Antarctic explorers return with an intense 

 aversion to strong winds ! It is not the low tempera- 

 tures which matter, so much ; for the writer has 

 stripped to a vest when sledging at temperatures 30° 

 below freezing, when there is no wind. But wind 

 drives the cold air right against the skin, and any 

 temperature below freezing soon becomes unpleasant 

 under such circumstances. The preceding table shows 

 the mean wind velocity during the four years 1902, 

 1903, 191 1, and 191 2 at Cape Evans (or Hut Point) 

 in miles per hour. (Amundsen's base at Framheim is 

 added below.) 



These velocities varied greatly from year to year. 

 Thus in June, 191 1, we experienced an average of 31.8 

 miles per hour throughout the month, or four times the 

 velocity registered at Amundsen's headquarters. This 

 was the highest to date in the Antarctic, but was far 

 below the records obtained by Mawson next year in 

 Adelie Land, where his average for the year was fifty 

 miles an hour or "gale force" the whole time! We 

 may quote from Mawson's account of his experience 

 in Adelie Land during July, 191 3. 



The wind was frightful throughout the whole month of 

 Julv, surpassing all previous records and wearing out our 



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