Still at Patriot Hills

Bill called to say that despite clear skies at Patriot hills, Vinson Base is reporting thick cloud cover, which is preventing the planes from launching. There appears to be some amount of movement in the clouds, so there is still a chance that they will get the opportunity to launch.

The base camp manager at Vinson base takes hourly weather observations, in which he or she looks up at the sky, which they visually divide into 8 sections. These observations are radioed to the pilots at Patriot hills, detailing how many sections of the sky are clear or cloudy, with what types of clouds and at what elevations. Wind speed and any precipitation details are also reported. The pilots use this information to make a judgment call as to whether they are willing to fly or not. They need to be conservative, as there is not much of a safety net when you are flying in Antarctica.