It has been windy for the past 3 days and this has kept the nighttime temperatures warmer here. Winds have also reduced visibility and caused some drifting (see above). Notice the UH flag. I am curious to see how long it lasts if the winds keep blowing. Winds have died off a bit for the past 6 hours. Wind direction has also changed, have been getting some Northerly and now Easterly winds.
The NOAA Atmospheric Watch Observatory (AWO) measures the air temperature 2 and 8 meters above the snow. The first 10 days of our project were quite sunny and at night the atmosphere was well stratified. Notice how the 8 m air is much warmer at night while the 2 m air temperatures cool down to below -35C.
Winds were typically 3 to 7 m/s for first 10 days, and have been mostly above 6 m/s for last 3 days. Higher winds at night have done a good job of mixing the air, keeping the surface (2 m) air temperature from getting so cold. This has made it much easier to sleep. During the day the temperatures feel about the same, especially when you consider the windchill factor.
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